Ocean of Darkness
by Sorrelwing
Summary: Sequel to 'Melody of the Ocean.' When tragedy places them into possession of a dangerous and magical artefact, Melody and company must journey to across the sea to destroy it, while evading dark creatures who intend on using the artefact for sinister gain. As tensions rise and secrets are uncovered, they will be forced to face mortal dangers - as well as their pasts.
1. Haunted

_**(The title may change)**_

 _ **Hi guys, hopefully you remember me, it's Sorrel and I'm back for volume two. If you're new to me and this story, this is a sequel, so if you like, have a read of Melody of the Ocean, which I completed in 2016. It's been quite a while.**_

 _ **Last time we saw, Melody chose to live in the sea to be with Finn and her merfamily. They're now living together, as are Zafrina and Bay, and Ariel and Eric have had a baby boy, who's now a few months old. They get along just swimmingly and things are hunky-dory... how interesting, a story where nothing happens and we just see cute double dates between our lovey dovey couples? What's boring about that?**_

 ** _ **In all seriousness, here's the reality** \- picking up a year after Nia's defeat, Melody is now 18. R_** ** _elationships and characters have evolved, but despite this, the scars from Nia are still fresh, and a dangerous task will make our four question themselves - and each other, while dark figures lurk in the background, threatening their journey and their lives along the way._**

 ** _The artwork is entirely my own, a hand drawing of Melody and Finn - and Mel looks furious. There'll be a reason for that._**

 ** _Anyway, buckle_** ** _up. We're off on a journey..._**

Melody wandered over to the window - she called it a window, but to merpeople, it was a hole on the wall. A fond recall to a past life above the waves, Melody still used human sayings and terms to remind herself of it, even if it made her ocean relatives look at her in confusion. She missed it, but not terribly. She had reminders of it littered around her new home; from the books sealed by Triton's magic to stop the soaked pages disintegrating, to a few things Melody had asked her parents to retrieve from her bedroom, such as the prettiest stones and shells she'd collected over the years.

She gazed out across the seabed, ocean blue eyes soft with fatigue. Rays of silver streaked through the seawater, illuminating the sea floor. At first she thought it was empty, but then an arrow flew through the space, striking a rock column, where it embedded in a crack. At first she was disturbed by memories of a bow-wielding mermaid, but then she saw a familiar mint-green tail. Someone pulled the arrow out of the rock column, running a finger on the arrow tip.

"Nice shot!" Called a distant voice. Zafrina laughed and turned, fingers briefly twirling a piece of his blonde hair. She took the bow from Bay, and said something to him that Melody couldn't hear, in a warm voice was tinged by the accent of her father's native kingdom down south.

Bay rolled his silver eyes playfully, before looping his arm with Zafrina's, and they swam out of view. Zafrina and Bay were more nocturnal than anything. They slept in late and stayed up late. They had no daylight priorities, so why not, was their excuse. Melody smiled to herself, before she twirled a piece of hair in her fingers, fingernails searching for split ends. She glanced back, noticing how the moon briefly illuminated the scarring on Bay's upper tail; proof of where he'd been savagely bitten by a sea serpent over a year ago.

 _Scarring..._ their battle had left more than one, as in the next few minutes, she was to be made aware of. But for now, she reflected on other things.

Melody turned away from the window, breathing in seawater, head leaned back. She loved her new home - she and Finn had a small network of about three caves connected by tunnels for their new home, near Zafrina and Bay's own living space. The entrance was framed by thick seaweed 'curtains', as was the 'window'. Their bedroom was simple, with a few things about. A vase, given as a house - or cave-warming - gift from one of her aunts, Aquata. A chair, pretty things, alongside the human possessions Melody owned.

A square of rock, like a cabinet, held some possessions; pictures, Melody's locket when she took it off to sleep, a few rings she'd started wearing, and Finn's mother's knife, all he had of her. Melody's parents were one picture, with a month-old Florian in Ariel's arms, and Max just underneath, the picture being a few weeks before the faithful old english sheepdog had died peacefully in his sleep. That had been an upsetting time, and she missed him.

And yet she truly belonged here, even if there had been a few bumps in the road since she'd been turned into a mermaid by Triton. He had seemed under the weather lately, both a little ill, and worried about something. No matter how many times they had crept into the palace, they'd never overheard what was worrying him, but he was Triton - he'd bounce back. When he'd met Florian at the christening, he'd been just like his old self...

The past year had been the brightest time of her life; she was relishing life in the sea - life was good. Over the past year, she'd grown stronger. It seemed as though natural merfolk seemed to have enhanced stamina, durability and physiologies, likely from life in the ocean. Melody was finally catching up - she could even beat Zafrina in an arm-wrestle on a good day, and Zafrina was probably the strongest mermaid she knew.

But it wasn't all seamless. The minutes were up.

Melody lifted her head, listened briefly, before shrugging and refocusing on the picture of her family. She ran a fingertip around the edge of the frame, the picture made possible by the trident's magic. Her heart warmed, but before she could look at Florian, she realized she'd heard something the first time.

"Go... away." Muttered a voice. Melody looked over her shoulder - she had thought she was just hearing things. But then he said it again, muffled under the covers. "Go _away..."_ Melody blinked, and placed the frame down.

"Finn?" She asked, perplexed. He was concealed from her view, so she moved away from the window, and gently pulled back the covers, so not to disturb him. Her eyebrows knitted together into a frown. He was flinching, his head turning this way and that, occasionally slowly, then twitching rapidly from left to right. His hands were clenched into fists, gripping the covers so that his knuckles turned white, and his tail fins twitched. When she outstretched a hand to feel his face, it was cold. She pulled her hand away quickly, heart suddenly beginning to thud against her chest. _Should I wake him up?_

Finn's eyes moved rapidly behind his eyelids. His eyebrows were creased with fear, a muscle contracted on his throat, and his breathing was fast and shallow. "Finn..." Melody whispered, her hand on his arm, but he didn't wake.

"Get away from her..." _Me? Zafrina? His mother?_ Finn had only ever been close to three females in his life, but something told her it was herself. "Nia... leave her _alone_..." his voice rose, as she froze in horror at the memory, of seeing Nia turn her bracelet thrice in hand, and then, a few days later, of her crushing it into oblivion with a rock in her dying moments. Melody had almost died. Finn was dreaming of the queen, the seawitch who had murdered his mother, Merissa - Nia's own sister - when he was just five years old.

She had to wake him up.

"Finn... _Finn!"_

Suddenly Finn's eyes flew open and he jerked, sat bolt upright, frantically scrabbling backwards so his spine was pressed against the wall; he was still immersed in his vision. Melody sprang away, the hairs on her neck on end, nails digging into her palms. He eventually looked at the sound of his name, eyes reflecting Melody's in the dark.

Consumed by what he'd seen, terrorized, he looked close to tears. Finn's lean torso shuddered as he breathed heavily, and his veins had risen around the simple flame-outlines tattooed on his biceps. They had been a mandatory thing Nia had demanded of her warriors, to have at least one tattoo to be identifiable as her own - Finn especially hadn't been able to escape, being her nephew.

"Mel?" Finn was pushing his hair away from his face, the terror fading as he realized that it was only a nightmare. When Melody embraced him, she felt his heart thrashing against her ribs like a caged bird. He clung to her, eerily cold.

"It was only a dream. It's not real." She whispered into his hair, while Finn covered his face with his hands, trying to escape the memory. Melody then pulled away, placing her hands on the sides of his face; over the past months he'd grown stubble, darkening his jaw and around his mouth. His dark brown hair, which fell about two inches past his jawline, was messy, and she had to brush it out of his eyes. She searched the sea-green depths of his irises; they were filled with a fear she hadn't seen in months, and it frightened her.

"I _saw_ her, Melody... she was here..." his eyes flickered from side to side, as though expecting Nia to jump out at them. Melody was disturbed.

"She's dead, Finn. She can't hurt you anymore." Finn blinked at her, as if confused by her words. He covered her hands with his own, where they were still placed on his face, and closed his eyes.

Had Finn not killed Nia, Melody wouldn't be here. Finn didn't feel that guilty - Nia had killed his mother, she'd been cruel to him; he had been raised to hurt without feeling the guilt. But even so, he'd never killed anyone until then, and the image of a dying Nia, laughing like a maniac as she'd destroyed Melody's bracelet - the thing that had allowed her to switch between being human and mermaid, before the change had been made permanent - couldn't escape his mind. Finn pulled away, one hand buried in his hair. Melody sat at the bedside, stroking his free hand.

"Again?" The word echoed throughout the stone walls. Finn, his arms wrapped around his tail, looked away, as if ashamed. Melody's fingertips strayed to her lips, she was uncertain what to do, what to say. "You haven't been sleeping well recently. You mutter, you toss and turn... why haven't you told me they're about Nia? Have they been about her the whole time?" Finn looked back at her, darkness pooling under his eyes. His trouble sleeping had taken its toll.

"Not all her... Otan, Ontari..." Melody shivered at the memory of them. Otan had once turned the caramel skin of Zafrina's throat black when he'd ambushed her and trapped her neck in his iron grip. Zafrina had used the trident to burn his face beyond recognition in return. Ontari was responsible for a scar that ran diagonally on the side of Finn's left ribcage, an arrow that had sheared four inches of darkness into his olive skin.

"But... they _were_ her right-hand merfolk. It's all linked." She ensured to place emphasis on 'were', to remind Finn they were gone. Otan had been disintegrated into ash by the trident, and Ontari was currently imprisoned in Attina's kingdom-by-marriage of Delorea, having turned to crime following Nia's death. They'd trained viciously alongside Finn and Bay growing up.

"I don't know why, why now, of all times. It's been over a year... they should be going away, not getting worse." Finn had been troubled by nightmares ever since settling in Atlantica. At first he'd brushed them off, thinking they'd go, but they kept happening. Never had he said Nia's name until now.

"What happens in them?" Melody pressed, but he didn't answer her, avoiding eye contact. She lifted his chin, forcing him to meet her gaze. "Are you sure you don't want to talk to Chandra about it?" Chandra dealt with delicate matters of the mind. Alana had felt low following the birth of Zafrina's sister Zoe, but Chandra had been there to help. Maybe there was something she could do for Finn?

"No, I don't want..." Finn hesitated to tell Melody this - he was afraid of how Chandra would perceive him. Sebastian the crab wasn't fond of Finn and didn't seem to trust him, although he didn't mind that so much; Finn enjoyed calling him 'Seb' to annoy him in response. But he wasn't alone - several of Melody's cousins hadn't done much to get to know Finn and Bay, and Andrina was particularly nervous around them after she'd been viciously pursued by Nia's forces last year. Only Triton, Ariel and Eric, and Zafrina's family seemed to trust and even _like_ him. Anyone else was polite, albeit uneasy.

"Why not?" Melody pleaded. "Please. I want to understand..."

"I can't bear the thought of her giving me one look and sending me away. What if the fact that I dream about... about _them... my past_... makes her suspicious or feel threatened? All my life I've been hissed at, chased by strangers - because of where I come from. If they'd known me and Nia were related... but that doesn't matter now."

They'd all sworn not to tell anyone, but somehow, someone had found out he was the nephew of a murdering tyrant. Strangers looked uncomfortable in his presence, even afraid. Melody felt her heart twist, for she realized what made Finn so reluctant to talk to someone about Nia and his past.

"She's not like that. But... I won't force you." Her eyes moved to his. Unable to resist, she pressed her lips to Finn's. His eyes slid shut briefly, and when she pulled her face away, his eyes had opened to a translucent, dream-like quality. She curled up alongside him, her head nuzzled against his throat. Melody's cheek rested on his chest, fingers interlacing with his. "Go to sleep... we'll talk about this some other time." She murmured into his skin. Finn lay awake for a little while, but then Melody's breathing slowed and lulled him to sleep, the rhythm he fell asleep to every night.

She had only slowed her breathing to fool him into thinking she was asleep. Melody lay awake, her free hand placed over his heart, her mind racing as fast as his heartbeat.


	2. Guilt

Melody watched her parents further along the beach, walking hand in hand, through the shallows. Ariel held up the hem of her dress, Eric swung her hand in his; Ariel was only thirty four, Eric two years older. They still looked youthful, although Eric had a few grey hairs coming, and Ariel had slight creases by her eyes. But they were still the same, still in love, still smiling, eighteen years after their marriage. They'd left her and Zafrina here, to baby sit while they had time to themselves. Of course, Melody and her cousin were delighted to oblige.

Melody held Florian's face close to hers, still not quite believing. Her mother had been a few months along when Melody had been told, refraining from telling her from when she'd first known. Ariel thought it was better to let Melody get settled into life in the ocean; she didn't want Melody to feel guilty, for leaving home when Ariel was about to have a baby. Making up for not living in the castle, Melody visited her baby brother whenever she could.

Florian was very strong - Melody sometimes had to wrestle her locket out of his grip. He had a light smattering of freckles, with Eric's icy blue eyes; lighter than Melody's, who had the sea-blue eyes of her mother. He had, to the delight of all her aunts and her grandfather, Ariel's red hair, with baby kiss curls. He had a round, sweet face, eyes framed by long, curly eyelashes as babies often did. Now almost five months old, Florian rarely cried and was the happiest baby Melody had ever seen. She'd never known a baby to smile so much, and the way he smiled when he saw her made her heart glow.

Florian kept looking at her red scales from where she held him on her lap, lightly prodding them. He was getting used to them at last, at first he'd been uncertain. "He's gorgeous." Zafrina cooed, from where she was, a few feet away. She lay on her belly, gazing at Florian. "Just so cute, for a human!"

"You saying humans can't be cute?" Melody asked playfully, and Zafrina laughed. Zafrina picked up a shell, dusting off the sand, and offered it to Florian. His little hands took hold of the shell and he lifted it in front of him, staring at it with his enormous blue eyes. He broke into a toothless smile and he bounced the shell, and Melody kissed him on the side of his temple, nuzzling her cheek against his hair.

"Hey, you gals! _Help!"_ They looked to the right, and Florian's big blue eyes wandered with them, a third of the shell in his mouth. A few metres away, Scuttle was pinned to the sand by a fluffy black and white Spaniel, which was excitedly snuffling him all over. Now growing out of the puppy stage, he had been sent as a congratulatory gift to Ariel and Eric after the birth of Florian, and also as a comfort when Max had passed away.

"He's alright!" Zafrina laughed. "Hey, Marco! Come here, come on!" The Spaniel immediately abandoned Scuttle, leaping excitedly into Zafrina'a arms. Eventually he grew bored and bounded away, chasing Sebastian over the rocks. The crab shrieked for Flounder to help, but a large splash showed that he'd taken cover. Sebastian leapt from stone to stone, but Marco was harmless, so the mermaids simply looked on in amusement.

Florian seemed quite content with the shell, and with Sebastian and Scuttle having fled Marco, Melody and Zafrina resumed their conversation. With the seagull and the crab vanished, Marco went flying down the beach, spraying sand with his paws, racing down to catch up with Ariel and Eric.

Zafrina was the daughter of Alana and the dark-skinned Adonis, who came from a far away, tropical kingdom. Zafrina, as a result, had a skin shade that was like Alana and Adonis's mixed, golden brown, with gold-tipped brown hair and golden eyes, with a mint-green tail and seashells. She wore several gold bangles on her wrists, and her figure was curvy and slightly muscular.

She'd recently cut her hair to her collarbone; she'd left a small strand of hair that fell to her bust, which she kept braided. The rest of her hair, loose and now drying in the sun, was going rather curly, as it did when she wasn't underwater. It was difficult to believe that she and Melody were cousins, who, with her ivory skin, black hair and blue eyes, was her polar opposite.

"So, what were you saying about Finn?" Zafrina asked, picking up a stick embedded in the sand, absent mindedly drawing lines in the beach.

"Well... don't tell Bay about this, you know how secretive Finn is. He's been having nightmares, Zafrina... about Nia, and all that." Melody heard the stick snap. But when she looked at Zafrina, her look surprised her. It was naturally surprised, but... relieved? Zafrina, clocking that Melody had spotted this, awkwardly looked away, not wanting to say it out loud. Melody had known her cousin since the ban between human and merfolk contact had been lifted, and in the six years they'd become like sisters - closer than Zafrina and any of her three sisters, in some ways. She knew something was wrong.

"Glad to know I'm not the only one, then." Zafrina tried to sound chirpy, but it quickly faded.

"You have nightmares?" Melody asked, in shock.

"Why are you so surprised?"

"Well - Zafrina, you're, well... Zafrina." She was tough-as-nails. She had been ruthless last year, not hesitating to brutally attack Nia and her minions. She'd seized the trident when they'd found it, when they'd been ambushed by Nia. She'd wrecked havoc with it, without a single moment's hesitation. Merfolk had been blackened, sent flying, burned, she'd even left several merpeople with teethmarks and nail scratches in their arms when they'd attempted to restrain her. Zafrina had little fear, right?

"I don't know. I think... I keep remembering..." Zafrina had an odd look in her fiery golden eyes; less terrified than Finn's last night, more... haunted.

She had been a different person over a year ago. She'd been excitable, quick to make her own assumptions, and difficult. Sometimes she was that same mermaid again, but something had changed. She kept rethinking her actions. "They're not scary, they don't chase me, or anything, and as far as I know, I don't talk - Bay's a light sleeper and he tells me everything, so if I did, he'd let me know. They're more like flashbacks. I keep seeing..." She hesitated; she hated every syllable, every curve of the letters that formed it. She resisted spitting the word out. "Otan." Melody shivered at the memory.

"Oh, Zafrina..." Melody's following words blurred out, as Zafrina grew lost in thought, a sickly feeling in her chest.

Zafrina had utterly ruined his face. Most of his hair burned off, his face scarlet and infected... an image she couldn't forget, even if Triton had turned him to no more than ash and dust moments before Otan had tried to kill Zafrina and Bay. Bay comforted her that he deserved it, that anyone else in her situation would do the same thing. If she hadn't, Finn wouldn't be able to use the distraction to get both him and a drowning Melody to safety. It wasn't like he didn't have it coming - he'd strangled her, and had Bay not been there... but still. She wished she hadn't mutilated his face. That was what it was. Mutilation.

"This feeling, I don't know what it is. The pain, the scarring I inflicted... It makes me feel cold." Regret. She knew it was regret. The guilt, of what she'd done to him, even if he'd been vile and she despised him.

"But Zafrina, he was a creep. He deserved it. He was mildly - well, more than that - obsessed with you." Otan had always had an obsession with mermaids, but the way he'd looked at Zafrina was beyond disturbing. It made them uncomfortable thinking about it. "It's not just that, is it? Is it... what happened, when you were under her control?" Zafrina's teeth snagged on her lip.

"Its that, as well. I almost killed you... several times. All I remember is what I did to you and Finn. All the rest is a blur, because I can't remember. I was under their control - what if I hurt someone, or worse..." Otan had ordered her to kill Finn and Melody, when she had been under Nia's magic. "Under that spell, I couldn't resist, and nearly stuck a knife into Finn's neck as a result. If it wasn't for you, what would I have done?"

Melody had never thought of the possible things Nia had ordered Zafrina to do. While Finn had escaped with a drowning Melody, Zafrina had caused devastation with the trident until it had been wrestled off her. Nia had put her under a powerful mind-control spell, and she wasn't alone - many merfolk who had gone missing ended up being found under the same spell so Nia had more fighters to her cause. The spell turned them into mindless soldiers who would only move if they were instructed. The effects were disturbing - without orders they'd stand there, every muscle slack, eyes glassy and staring straight ahead. Even Alex, the first merboy Melody had met when she was twelve, had been a victim.

"It wasn't you, Zafrina. It was that seawitch's twisted magic..." Melody placed a hand on her arm in an attempt to comfort her cousin, but Zafrina felt the guilt, heavy again, as she got flashes of blurred memory, of everything she'd done. She pulled her arm away from Melody, quickly.

"Can we not talk about me?" Zafrina interrupted, and her face said it all. Melody was taken aback by the sudden anger in Zafrina's voice, and her eyes flashed - but she clamped her lips shut, sensing the danger if she snapped back. Florian's eyes dilated slightly at her harsh tone of voice, he rarely heard anger, and he fidgeted on Melody's tail. Zafrina looked at him, seeing his discomfort. Her eyes moved from Florian to Melody, suddenly anxious. Guilt, again. "Bye, Florian." She stroked his hair, before rolling across the sand and into the sea.

"Zafrina!" Melody tried calling her back, but with a flick of her mint-green tail fins, Zafrina was gone. She went to go after her, but remembered Florian, and gave up. She fell backwards onto the sand. She lifted Florian above her face, throwing him gently and catching him, as people often did to babies. He smiled again, forgetting Zafrina's harsh tone of voice. "Wish I could be as care free as you." She murmured, was both frustrated and confused.

Had their experiences really changed them so much?

Zafrina swam down, determined not to head back and apologize. _She'll understand... I'm not going back. That'll be so embarrassing..._ She didn't tell anyone anything, she was too proud to show her feelings, except around Bay, who made her melt. It was hard to believe they'd started off so badly; Zafrina had caused him to be imprisoned - twice - and she had loved throwing insults and snarky quips. But when he'd saved her from strangulation at the hands of Otan, she'd realized they were on the same side. There was something there. She'd stopped insulting him, and more.

She'd grown to trust, like, and finally, love him. Unlike other merboys, who only seemed to talk to her because she - quoting one particular one she disliked - "had a pretty face", Bay liked her for her personality. He admired her fierce spirit and caring warmth. She was shocked her initial behaviour hadn't swayed him. But that was the sort of person he was; Bay didn't judge. Maybe that had rubbed off on Zafrina, making her less judgemental. But she was still very much like her old self.

Zafrina swam on, until she found herself in her and Bay's cave. Sealed at night with a slab of stone, the inside tunnel lead to a chamber curtained by pink seaweed. Both she and Bay were very artistic, so the carved and painted walls were normal. Zafrina ran her fingertips along it, feeling the rough crevices, before collapsing on the bed, curling up to think.

 _It's all in the past now... there's nothing I can do._ _I mean... I could've done much worse. I'm just being stupid, aren't I? Finn killed Nia and he doesn't seem to feel this way. But then she was a barbaric old witch. She had to die. All I did was hurt some people... badly._

"Are you okay?" Zafrina jumped up, interrupted from her thought.

"Oh, Bay... I'm fine." She smiled at the sight of him; he was well built, tall, with long, silvery blonde hair he sometimes tied back with a simple black band. His skin tone was cooler and lighter than Finn's, but not as pale as Melody's, and his face had a cherubic quality with a mildness about his mouth. But then something else caught her eye. "What's that?" Bay tried to siddle out of view, but the speed at which he did it resulted in him hitting a table. Several objects fell to the floor with a loud clatter. Zafrina jumped up to help him, gathering up the displaced paints and sketchbooks she and Bay used, and putting them back. Bay leaned against the wall, lips pressed against his fist, embarrassed.

"I'm experimenting." He admitted, silver eyes casted down. A piece of green fabric of similar colour to his tail had been tied off at the side of his waist, so the rest of it draped down to hide what lay underneath. Zafrina gave him a part comforting, part sombre smile, as she moved the fabric aside.

"You don't have to embarrassed." She placed a hand over the scar, and Bay flinched slightly. She turned his face towards her. "I don't care. I still adore you."

"I still hate it." He admitted.

It was a foot in width, the result of a venomous sea serpent's jaws. It could have been her who'd been bitten, but Bay had distracted the beast before it could strike her. _My fault again..._ Zafrina shook herself for selfishly thinking about herself. Four thick, ragged gouges running diagonally into his green scales, one of the serpent's teeth had shredded a clean tear through the fleshy frill separating his tail from his skin, narrowly missing his belly. Her hand stayed there, tracing the scars, and she looked into his eyes, hers determined. "It doesn't bother me, and it shouldn't bother you."

Bay smiled, briefly lifted out of his self consciousness. He untied the fabric and dropped it on the table, although that meant he would wear it again when he next left the cave. Zafrina acknowledged this, but decided it was up to him. "Well, if it makes you feel less self conscious, wear it. But know that I love you without it."

In some way, each of them were held back. Bay's scars, Finn's nightmares, Zafrina's guilt; even Melody didn't like going into deep, dark places, remembering the three times she'd been forced back into her human form at the bottom of the ocean. Zafrina looked out of what her cousin fondly referred to as a window, feeling Bay wrapping his arms around her. She leaned back against him, weaving her hands through his long, silvery blonde hair, before her mind blurred and she forgot her worries for a time, as he kissed her.

Little did she know, this tranquil time would soon be ending.


	3. Crippling

"How have you been sleeping?" Melody asked Finn, swinging his hand in hers. It had been three days since she'd woken him from his nightmare; but she was still reluctant to fall asleep, in case he started having more, and she wasn't awake to bring him out of them.

"I haven't had any since you woke me up. I only have them once, maybe twice a month... don't worry about me. They'll go eventually." Finn forced certainty into his voice to console her, although it was entirely false. He didn't think Melody watching him like a hawk would stop what lurked in his sub conscious coming to life whenever he fell asleep, as much as he wanted it to. Obviously there was something he had to face, but what? He didn't know why he had these nightmares. _Maybe they're a warning._ What of? Nia and Otan were dead, Ontari was locked away... _right?_ He shook himself for being so ridiculous.

"Finn?"

"Just thinking." Finn said, distracting himself by the feel of her hand. Melody had warm, dainty hands that fitted perfectly in his own, and she wore a few rings, black and silver in colour, some from land in the shapes of bird talons, twisting branches with leaves; and from the ocean, like seaweed, wave outlines, and one on her thumb that was shaped like two flowers curling on thorny vines, the lower blooming towards her hand, the other towards her nail.

They swam into the palace, headed for the library. Books made by merpeople were made by a different, more rough material, so that they actually withstood the water - Melody's human books needed sealing by trident magic. The library stood at the end of the palace corridor, before it occurred to them both that Aquata was turned away from them, gazing out of a window. Adella's twin boys, Seth and Jamorian, could be heard shouting and shrieking as they played in one of the rooms, but Aquata hadn't noticed the racket. Adella had been called away to urgent business in her kingdom which conveniently was the undersea version of Atlantica's next door neighbour.

Adella and the twins often came by for a week out of the month, with the other three of Ariel's sisters sending letters, dropping by once every few months, or appearing via communication shell, a special shell imbued with a magic that allowed a live vision of the speaker to appear before the receiver. As it shouldn't take too long, whatever it was, Adella had left the twins in the care of her family. Aquata should have been watching them, but she clearly hadn't heard how much noise Seth and Jamorian were making.

Melody and Finn slowed. Aquata's eyes were filled with a look - grief, fear - her teeth bit her lower lip so hard that the blood had been chased away. It was difficult to differentiate her lip from the rest of her skin.

"Aquata?" Melody asked, and her aunt leapt out of her skin. She whirled round, interrupted from intense thoughts.

"I'm fine." Her voice was hard, eyes glazed with pain. She finally seemed to notice that Seth and Jamorian were shouting too loudly. "Seth! Jamorian!" Aquata raced from the room to check on her nephews, unnecessarily fast, as though to get away from Melody and Finn. They exchanged a curious look.

"What do you suppose is bothering her?" Finn asked, sounding concerned.

"I don't know." Melody said, frowning, considering going after her. "Maybe she's worried about something? Grandfather is being quite reclusive at the minute, she's been in charge of kingdom matters..." As a matter of fact, she hadn't seen him much since Florian's christening, but didn't think about it. As the eldest daughter of Triton and Athena that was still living in Atlantica, Aquata was the heir to the Atlantean throne, with Attina having married into another kingdom and therefore renouncing her claim. So Aquata was second in command, persay. It wouldn't be a surprise that she'd heard something worrying about another kingdom. "I'm sure it's nothing. Shall we?"

They went into the wondrous library, a circular room with dozens of shelves lining the walls. Melody and Finn separated as they wondered through the many, many shelves. Melody noticed one that had fallen to the floor, and picked it up. She went to put it back, before her eye caught the cover. A creature - somewhat humanoid, barechested, with claws instead of nails on it's hands. It's jaw was outstretched as though trying to rip away from it's skull, it's eyes screwed shut. It was silhouetted by a familiar golden light, like the one that came from the trident... a word was written on the cover in language she couldn't read. For some reason, her hands prickled, as though she held something forbidden.

Indeed. There was a gap on a shelf just above where she found it, labelled _Triton's private collection._ She quickly shoved the book back where it belonged.

Finding it hard to move the image of the creature away from her mind, Melody swam upwards to the shelves she was allowed to take from. _Map of the Underwater World. Ocean nymph. Legends of Neptune._ She slipped them into her bag, and Finn added three he had chosen. Having thought they had enough books, they left the library, and started down the corridor. By the time they reached the exit, Melody realized something.

"Oh, shoot. I left the chain off his private collection."

"Does it matter? I'm sure he won't mind..."

"It's alright, I'll catch up!" Melody squeezed his hand, before turning and hurrying back into the palace. Re-entering the library, she got to the private shelf, and replaced the chain. But as she turned to leave, Melody stopped. That book... she turned back, and eased the book out, to look back at the cover that she found so disturbing. The creature looked somewhat demonic, a look of evil on its grotesque face... _it's not even a book. It's... designed that way._ To mislead anyone who picked it up, it was actually a box, shaped and painted like a hardcover book. It was padlocked, she realized. Melody shook it, heard something rattling inside.

Suddenly she heard voices approaching. _Uh-oh._ Melody put the book - box, whatever it was - back and replaced the chain for the third time, but they were already coming down the corridor. For some reason, who knew why, Melody felt the urge to hide, even if she could easily go to another shelf and appear to be innocently browsing. She hid behind a column, realizing it was Triton, Aquata, Alana and Sebastian.

"Your majesty, _please,_ I insist -"

"Not now, Sebastian." Triton sounded tired. And, Melody realized, sick. His breathing was heavy and laboured, as if he were ill - and, or, desperately worried. Melody heard the rattle of the chain as he took a book out from the private collection. "It knows... he knows I'm growing weaker..."

It? He? Who? Was this what Aquata had looked so worried about? Melody's heart lurched at the rest of Triton's sentence, but she had no time to fully absorb something so important.

"Don't say that!" Aquata said fiercely. "All you need is rest. Which you would be getting, if you let us get the damn thing!" Melody had never heard Aquata swear, nor had she heard that high-pitched swell of grief, in anyone's voice. Melody looked around the column, cheek pressed against the cool stone, as she strained to see without being spotted herself. Aquata hovered at Triton's side, while Alana stayed back, as jittery as a bird and looking ready to faint, and Sebastian swam frantically around the sea king. He held the very 'book' Melody had.

Triton was clearly not well.

Triton looked grey almost, heavy bags under his eyes, with a great cloak pulled around his torso. Melody hadn't seen him in so long, the difference in how he'd last looked... at Florian's christening, Triton had looked reasonably well, only a little pale, but not alarmingly or noticeably so. She'd seen him last week, he'd looked a little worse, but only as if he were a little ill, not worryingly so - but now, he looked alarmingly frail. His hands shook slightly as he held the fake book - was it weakness, or fear? Melody couldn't tell.

"He'll come here. And when he gets it, he'll destroy everything..."

"Don't be ridiculous, your majesty!" Sebastian's voice was high-pitched. "He'll never escape..."

"That's the thing! I got a message from -" suddenly Triton started coughing, deep, frightening coughs that jarred Melody. Alana, who had been silent the whole time, suddenly threw her arms up, overcome with emotion.

"I can't! I can't do this anymore!" Alana turned and fled the room, covering her face with her hands.

"Alana!" Aquata shouted, but she was gone. Triton seemed to be struggling to breathe, the box had fallen to the floor. "Guards! Help!" Aquata yelled, and Melody heard more coughing, and then commotion as guards rushed in to help carry Triton to somewhere more comfortable. But Melody didn't dare emerge from her hiding place, knowing she had eavesdropped on forbidden infomation. She waited until they had struggled out of the room, Sebastian racing ahead, until emerging. She slid to the floor, trying to figure out what was going on. Something told her she wouldn't like it, and then a sickening feeling manifested in her chest. It grew and grew, strangling her heart like bindweed.

Melody went across the floor, to where the box had fallen. It had been opened now, the padlock gone; she thought she saw a faint yellow glow within the small gap between the box and the lid. She heard a horrified gasp, and when she turned, Aquata was there, having come back to retrieve the box. Melody stared at Aquata; she had been caught. Aquata had a look of pure mortification on her face, which had gone pale.

"How much did you hear?" She asked, tightly. Her voice shook, and so did Melody's.

"I... is he going to be okay?" Melody dreaded the answer.

"Get out!" Aquata was overcome with emotion, her voice louder, more jarring than she'd intended. Melody fled, barging past her aunt in her haste to escape. Aquata covered her face in regret, and threw the box savagely across the room, hating what was hidden under the demonic cover.

Leaving Bay asleep, Zafrina tidied her tousled hair in front of the mirror, before emerging from their cave, wondering what to do. She considered finding Melody or returning something she had borrowed from her youngest sister, Zelda. Just as she was about to go back inside to fetch what she had borrowed, a purple tail caught her attention. Her mother was streaking across the sand, coming from the direction of Atlantica; the speed alarmed Zafrina, and then she realized, the expression on her face and the hand covering her mouth, that Alana was crying.

"Mom!" She shouted, but Alana was too far away to hear. Zafrina hurried across the sand, trying to catch up with her, as fast as she could. But soon enough, Alana disappeared into Zafrina's former home, built inside a coral patch. Zafrina had moved out a few months after she and Bay had become a couple, and she felt the familiar and automatic nostalgia, as she approached the closed door that was the entrance. She went to open it, but remembered that made a sound. They would know she was there, so instead, Zafrina swam over to the hatch that opened into her former bedroom she had shared with her three sisters.

Zafrina was greeted by a calamity; Zaidee, Zoe, and Zelda had never heard of the word 'tidy'. Beds unmade, makeup and improperly sealed jars on the table before the mirrors, and possessions littering the floor. Even Zafrina's own bed was exactly as she left it, and she hadn't slept in it for months.

Moving quietly, Zafrina slid through the seaweed curtain, emerging in the main corridor joining the main room, the bedroom of her sisters, and their parents' room at the end. That was where Zafrina heard the weeping. Filled with fear, she siddled up to the entrance, peering through the seaweed. Alana was crying, enveloped in Adonis's arms. Her fingers were buried in Adonis's dreadlocks, pulling fiercely in her emotional state, but he didn't mind. He seemed to be on the verge of tears himself, eyes glossy as they were fixed on the ceiling.

"Darling..."

"How will I tell the girls?" Alana whispered. Zafrina accidentally knocked a pedestal with her hip, and rushed to catch the jar before it fell and made a sound. The jar remained in her hands, she was so absorbed in listening.

"I can tell them if you want..."

"What about Attina, Arista, Andrina? By the time the fastest marlin carries a message to their kingdoms... and Ariel! She just had a baby, she's stressed and exhausted, what will it do to her? _She won't even be able to say goodbye!"_ Why did she suddenly feel as though she were about to be sick? Zafrina tried not to make a conclusion. It was too horrifyingly, too mad, to even comprehend... her fingers shook around the jar.

"She's strong, and so are you." Adonis said firmly, gently. He held Alana's face close to hers, murmuring soothing things. Alana whispered back, hands clinging to his wrists - not quietly enough, she blurted out the crippling truth in a burst of emotion. Suddenly Alana and Adonis went silent, heads snapping at at the high-pitched noise. The jar Zafrina held slipped through her fingers and smashed to the ground, sending shards of broken glass flying across the floor. Suddenly, without saying a word, she was frantically tearing down the corridor, towards the entrance, hair snagging on the bumpy coral walls. She had to get outside, she had to breathe...

Zafrina knew they saw her through the seaweed, but didn't stop, even when her mother cried out her name. Zafrina threw the door open and plunged down, tearing through seaweed, scraping herself on boulders, as she fled from Alana and Adonis. She heard them calling her, but she couldn't turn back. Finally she had gone far enough, her lungs not allowing her to swim anymore. Zafrina pressed herself to the back of a boulder, hidden from view, as she took in the horrifying news. She closed her eyes, slowly shaking her head.

 _I won't cry... I won't cry._.. But she already was.


	4. Catatonia

**_Happy new year!_**

"He's dying, Melody." The phrase repeated in her head. Over and over, as though she were in a canyon, listening to an echo radiating off the stone walls, until they were whispering, as she zoned out. The shock immersed her as though she were a human still, flailing under the surface, listening to explosions overhead the water ceiling. For a few moments, she failed to react.

Bay's grey eyes were more like stones than their normal silver, for he had been the one to deliver the news. Zafrina's face remained pale, her body stiff, hands laying limply on her tail; they had not responded to Bay's attempt to hold one. Instead, he had draped a blanket around Zafrina, before his fist pressed to his lips as he often did when worried, eyes fixed on her. Not just for her, but for Triton, one of the few who seemed to genuinely trust and even like Bay and Finn, who they'd both admired and developed closeness with. And he was now dying.

"No." Melody gave a small laugh, the shock doing something to her, the realization not quite sinking in. "Don't be ridiculous... he's... he's Triton. He can't..." He'd always been there. He seemed invulnerable, permanent, like the sun - as if no matter how dark things grew he'd always return, restored. But this was reality, and real life wasn't like that, as she was now realizing. She felt Finn's hand on her shoulder, but then she was shaking her head, in denial, then horror. Melody went to leave, but Finn turned her around, trying to see if she was alright. His sea-green eyes did not calm her, and then she had torn her arm away from him, needing to be out of the room.

"Melody -" Finn tried, but she had already fled, through the window, the closest escape route. Melody swam into the dark water, desperate to escape the claustrophobic cave, the tears making their way out of her eyes. He looked at Bay and Zafrina, torn, but Zafrina, in her almost catatonic state, shook her head without moving her eyes from where they were fixed on a particular section of wall. Finn immediately went after Melody, leaving Zafrina and Bay sitting on the foot of their bed.

Bay had woken to realize that Alana and Adonis had been frantically shaking him awake. They hadn't told him why she'd gone away, but he hadn't had time to ask questions. He'd searched for almost twenty minutes, but then he'd heard crying. He'd found her, face in her hands, and she'd been in such a state he'd had to carry her home. What had followed had been Alana and Zafrina holding each other and crying a lot, before Alana had left to tell Zoe, Zaidee, and Zelda. Unlike Melody Zafrina had known Triton all her life, so to lose someone she'd held so close to her heart for almost twenty years was a shock. And he wasn't even dead yet.

"Zafrina, it'll be okay..."

"No it won't!" Snapping out of her catatonia, Zafrina leapt to her natural state when dealing with grief: anger. She leapt off the bed, tears rapidly dissolving around her; if it hadn't been for the water they'd be flying. She floated before Bay, face grief-stricken. "Everyone says that, it'll be okay, but it won't! Why didn't they tell us sooner? We've barely seen him - we'd know to spend more time with him, to appreciate these last few weeks more!" she wanted to break something, but remembered this wasn't even her home. She couldn't just go about bashing Melody and Finn's possessions. She buried her hands into her hair instead.

"Calm down! It _will_ be okay - I promise!" Bay took her by the face, forcing her to look into his eyes. "On our journey, after what he did to your neck, I promised to protect you, didn't I?" Reminded, he swiftly moved his hands from her neck, to her face, so not to remind her. Sometimes, she grew uncomfortable when they were having a moment, when his hands naturally moved close to her neck; she was too reminded of Otan's attempt to crush the air out of her throat. "And you're still here! Have I ever broken a promise?" Zafrina struggled at first, but then Bay locked her in his embrace. Her struggles slowed, until they stopped, and she turned from ice to water. She melted, hardness gone all at once, as she let him comfort her.

Finn surfaced a distance from the pile of rocks Melody was on, and he opened his mouth to say her name, before he realized what she had come to see. _Don't do it to yourself. If you see that..._ At the water's edge, Ariel stood in her nightclothes, with Eric visible at the balcony, having been warned by Sebastian that Florian should not be in Ariel's arms when she was told, in case she dropped him in shock. His expression was not visible, but Finn could assume that it was of despair, knowing what his wife was about to be told.

Aquata and Alana were sitting on rocks so they were eye-level with their youngest sister; only them, for Attina, Arista, Andrina and Adella weren't in Atlantica, although marlins had been sent to swiftly deliver the news to them, as well as to their many children living across the oceans. Ariel's lips moved; Finn thought they read to say "Tell me what?". He saw Alana look at Aquata, but her head was bowed, hand covering her face, and then Alana looked at Ariel, and said something.

Ariel blinked, appearing confused. But then the full meaning of Alana's words sank in. Underneath her nightclothes, her legs shook - and then gave out. Alana and Aquata leapt off the rocks and onto the sand, pulling their sister into their arms, beginning to comfort her. Finn's heart filled with pain; he could hear Ariel's sobs and cries of grief. Then he heard a closer sound, and looked up; Melody had allowed a sob to escape her throat. Melody's own heart broke, and if it was possible for that to be heard, it would be deafening. Her back shook as she shuddered with grief, with torment as she watched her mother break down. Ariel's hair hung about her face, and of course there was the distance between them, so it was hard to see her expression, but Melody could imagine it.

Finn pulled himself onto the rocks next to her, his hand touching her elbow to see if it was safe. She didn't flinch, so Finn slowly wrapped an arm around her, his other hand finding her face, to turn it towards his own. Her tears tumbled down her cheeks - a rare thing, for merfolk, whenever they cried, were more likely to be under the surface where teardrops vanished immediately into the seawater.

Above the surface now, Melody's tears dripped, and Finn swept them with his thumbs, trying to slow the rivers. His own eyes glistened with tears, and then, a natural rarity for someone born in the ocean, they started to fall. It had taken several years for him to be in the right place, so he could learn what tears looked like before they were lost to the water. And where he was raised, what happened to him, meant that it had happened a lot.

Finn pressed his lips to her forehead. "I'm so sorry."

"I can't believe it. He's always been there, even when I didn't know who he was, I felt as though somebody was thinking of me, watching me from afar..." He'd been secretly ill for months, growing more sickly and frail, hiding it by keeping his appearances brief and his manner overly cheerful so to appear normal. A doctor had apparently confirmed that he didn't have much longer to live now, something about breathing troubles, and increasing weakness by the day. Sebastian, Aquata and Alana were the only ones to know, hiding the truth in case he miraculously got better, or in denial. Who knew how Ariel's other sisters would react as soon as they received the news, let alone that the truth had been withheld from them so long?

"I'm here." Finn whispered, and Melody continued to let her tears seep from her eyes, onto his chest. The waves lapped against the pile of rocks, miraculously gentle, perhaps as the sea mourned the would-be loss of it's king. Aquata, he supposed, would take over, being the eldest heir who hadn't renounced her claim by moving away or marrying into another throne.

"I need to see him." Melody murmured. Finn briefly wondered if that was a good idea, but didn't want to stop her doing what she wanted. Melody casted a look back at her mother, who remained, collapsed in her sisters' arms. She thought about it, but then shook her head, and dived into the sea.

Later, Finn and Bay were waiting in the corridor, knowing this was a private moment. Melody and Zafrina floated at the entrance of the main hall; there he was in his great chair, looking pale, blankets draped around him. His hand hung off the side of his chair, the trident clumsily placed in its stand; improperly placed, anyone could grab it. As Melody remembered, her mother had mentioned after her little adventure that only a descendant of Triton could pull it from the stand, which was how she'd figured out that it was Melody, and how she'd found her in the most seemingly unlikely place. Melody remembered with regret, that she'd been naive enough to believe the most obviously manipulative, lying seawitch in the world over her own mother.

Scolding herself for being distracted, Melody refocused on he grandfather. He still looked grey, his hair and beard looking dull and lacklustre, and he seemed to have aged another twenty years in a few months. His eyes were filled with fatigue, but at the sight of his granddaughters, they appeared to brighten.

"Hello, Melody, Zafrina." They were both surprised that he was in his chair, and not his chamber, that his voice seemed strong still, albeit coming out of a thinner face. It made their fragile interiors seem less likely to crumble, and for a few moments, they forgot about his fatal diagnosis.

"How long?" Zafrina asked, on the verge of tears again. Triton slowly shook his head.

"Don't worry about that. You don't need me...

"Of course we need you!" Melody exclaimed, rushing to sit close to his chair, with Zafrina opposite. Triton looked into the distance, and it was there she noticed: he looked deathly afraid. But not of death, something told her. Something more sinister, someone, perhaps. She didn't want to ask, thinking it could be insensitive. But Triton made it unnecessary.

"I need you two to do something for me." He murmured. He looked outside, expecting one of his daughters to come rushing in, hushing him into secrecy, but luckily, it would take a while for them to leave Ariel's side.

"What?"

"I trust you two. You're both strong and capable, I wouldn't be asking if nobody else was willing..." Triton sighed. "I don't want to put you in such danger, but I have no other choice. If you do nothing... you'll be doomed anyway." Melody stared at him, bewildered. He was being incredibly vague, he was making no sense. Doomed? The sea had never been calmer. The kingdoms were currently on good terms, Nia was vanquished; what could possibly be coming to doom them all?

"Grandfather, what are you talking about?" Zafrina looked at Melody, frowning with her confusion. She wondered if his sickness was confusing him, but Triton was as sharp minded as ever.

"Something's coming. I've been telling Aquata and Alana that something must be done, but they're in denial. They're grieving, and I've been trying to persuade them to do something, but they think I'm going crazy. I'm not. You two are brave, less known, with no responsibilities here. You're less identifiable. You'll do it, I know you will... I only trust you..." Melody and Zafrina were confused but intrigued, and they leaned closer.

"What's coming?"


	5. The Abraxia stone

"When I was a young merman, the sea was a much more dangerous place. Humans hunted mermaids... dark creatures... seawitches were like goddesses when it came to their powers." Melody and Zafrina exchanged a look, wondering where he was going with this. He looked haunted; the look on his face, remarkably similar to how Finn had looked when she'd woken him the other night. The way he was talking was putting them on edge, and he'd just started. He sounded older than they remembered.

"I was twenty... maybe twenty two, when he arrived. His species... they had another name, but we call them aquademons."

"Huh?"

"A monstrous race of creatures. This is one." Melody spotted the 'box' she'd been examining in the library. Triton's hands shuddered as he went to pass it over, but Zafrina quickly got up so he wouldn't strain himself, taking it from him. She ran a hand across the cover, nails resting on the edges, a strange look taking over her face, as she took in the creature - or aquademon, as it was called - on the cover.

"I've seen this before." A memory came to Zafrina. She couldn't have been older than eight, sitting on the library floor with Zoe, Zaidee, and Zelda. Four-year old Zelda had wandered over to Triton's private collection and pulled out a random book; of course, not a book. Out of curiosity, Zaidee had tried to open it, but then Alana, seeing what they'd found, had frantically snatched it away and hastily put it back.

"I thought the library would be the last place someone would look for it. And only my relatives can go in there. It seemed like the safest option." Triton looked tiredly at the box, as though wanting to be rid of it. "As I was saying..."

"They once shared the ocean with us, living, working, alongside merfolk and octopids and the other seafolk... but then a small group decided they wanted to lead the oceans and be the only species that lived in it. Lysidus was their leader, and he was the worst one." Melody blinked. The name was bizarre, and it indeed sounded like a demon. "He grew vengeful of merfolk... he went on a killing spree, hundreds died, including my wife's family..."

"Athena?" Zafrina asked, in shock. "He killed her whole family?" Little had been told about Athena, except for the circumstances in which she died, and how warm and loving she was. If anyone was to have a dark and tragic past, Athena would be the last one anyone would suspect.

"Athena was the only one to survive by pretending to be dead. I've never told my own daughters that. I told the rest, but not that. I thought it would upset them." _So many secrets,_ Melody couldn't help but think. She knew a lot about them. The first twelve years of her life, of course, the secret of her true identity, that she'd hid from Finn until Nia had forced her to show the truth.

"Lysidus stole an artefact created by the most powerful seawitch in the sea... and used it to stop him and his group from aging. A jewel... it could grant the user a range of abilities... release energy, perform magic... bring back someone back from the brink of death. And given time to do so... destroy every mermaid and merman in the sea." Zafrina almost dropped the box, but managed to seize it before it hit the ground. "It is strong enough to do that, if the wielder wished it." Melody listened in fascination and horror. The jewel sounded like the trident, save for the immortality and genocide. But as these dawned on her, she flooded with fear. Lysidus was imprisoned... was. If he was still there, why would Triton be telling them this?

"He was about to use it to destroy all merfolk... but an ally of ours managed to get the jewel away from him, and Lysidus and his aquademons were imprisoned. They've been locked away for at least half a century... until now."

Zafrina's eyes lifted from the cover; her gold eyes had gone round and owl-like, while Melody found herself anxiously chewing her nails, which she hadn't done in a long time, as they both prayed that the creatures were dead, not escaped. But Triton's face showed them this wasn't the case. "I got a letter from where they were kept... someone murdered the guards and freed them. So now, they're coming for the artefact... to finish what they started. They're coming for the Abraxia Stone." It took Melody a few moments to realize that the 'Abraxia Stone' refered to the 'artefact' Lysidus had used and stolen. It was what the box concealed.

 _Abraxia stone?_ A strange name. Abrax? Abraxia? The only thing Melody had heard of that sounded close to that was 'Abraxas'; wasn't that the name of a demon or a charm? Triton opened the box, revealing what lay inside. Resembling a piece of citrine, it was yellow. It looked like any ordinary jewel, except for the luminous glow coming from it. Melody stared at it. All this trouble, for a yellow stone? The jewel glowed viciously, as if offended by her thoughts.

Melody's head spun with the news, made worse by the sight of the gem. She felt weak. _An immortal group of demonic creatures is coming to destroy the merpeople. The Abraxia Stone is here, in Atlantica, where almost everyone I love lives._ Zafrina voiced her thoughts even more explicitly.

"Grandfather, are you trying to tell us that a genocidal demon is coming for the Abraxia stone to destroy us all?" Zafrina's face was flooded with mortification and a terror Melody had never seen before. Triton looked at her with a heavy heart; his expression meant he didn't have to say yes.

Melody got up abruptly from the floor. "Why wouldn't Aquata and Alana tell everyone? This is our _lives_ at stake!" She was filled with a panic. "This is nothing compared to Ursula and Morgana, or Nia! This isn't about freedom or ruling, we won't be enslaved or conquered this time - we'll all be dead, if Lysidus comes to kill the merpeople again!"

"I only got the news a few days ago." Triton said weakly, after that outburst. Melody turned away, starting to pace through the water, swimming back and forth.

"A few days! How far away is the place they were held?" Zafrina said, in exasperation.

"A few weeks travel, but they can swim more strongly than us..." Melody had gone pale, and so had Zafrina. _They could be here within..._ "The ally I mentioned is named Circe. She's a powerful mermaid - a seawitch, yes, but she's on another level. A sea-enchantress. The only one capable of destroying the wretched thing, because she created it." Circe; the name meant 'Goddess of Magic'. "She gave it to us for safe keeping, and promised to figure out a way of destroying it."

"Why couldn't she do it there and then, if it's so dangerous?" Zafrina asked, the frustration clear in her voice as she identified the glaring plot-hole.

"Because she made it to be near indestructible, to the extent that her own magic couldn't destroy it. But then she stopped contacting us, and any messenger was turned away. The jewel needs to be destroyed before Lysidus can get his hands on it. You'll find her in Wundagore. When she hears of Lysidus's escape, she will help us..."

"Wundagore?"

"Dad told us a story about that." Zafrina was staring at the wall again, even if her voice wasn't as monotone as before. "It's that magic place, isn't it? No one rules it... it's dodgy." Melody looked curiously at Zafrina. It sounded like Pramheda, which they'd gone through on their journey - that was a place for strange seafolk, outcasts and rogues. Except that had only been one city. Wundagore sounded like a whole kingdom. She thought it sounded familiar; had she seen it on a map once?

"Circe was always one for magic and solitude, so Wundagore was where she retreated. It's where the most magicfolk live... seawitches and wizards, other creatures. So it's dangerous, but not if you keep a low profile and don't draw attention to yourselves."

"You want _us_ to go to Wundagore?" Melody asked, incredulously, and even Zafrina looked shocked by the notion. "Why us? Why not an army?"

"An army would draw a lot of attention. You've proven to me many times that you're capable of journeying in dangerous places, both of you. And you have the will to do it. Aquata and Alana will only try to stop you because they believe that the journey is too dangerous." Triton's head briefly sank, before lifting, as though he'd been about to fall asleep. "You can't tell anybody. Aquata already suspects that you have something planned." Melody looked up at this statement, remembering she'd been caught earlier. "Promise me, you will be careful, that you'll find Circe so she can take care of the Abraxia stone. Please... you must leave as soon as you can. Lysidus is coming..."

"Grandfather... what about you?" Suddenly Melody was painfully reminded. _He's dying._ She felt tears coming back with a vengeance. "We can't leave you before... what about my mother? Florian?" Zafrina looked sharply at Melody as she too realized what Triton was instructing: to leave, before he died. He was also telling them to leave when their families needed them most of all. Zafrina's sisters, her torn up parents. Ariel, who would need Melody more than ever, especially because she couldn't say goodbye properly?

"Melody, Zafrina..." Triton sighed. But his voice shook with fear - for the first time ever, Melody heard a terrified elderly merman, desperate for peace. "If you leave before I die, I can die at peace, knowing that you both are doing as I asked. I don't like saying goodbye..." He spontaneously began to splutter, and it took a few minutes for him to stop.

"But..." Zafrina was overcome with emotion, made worse by the sound of how sickly the cough sounded. She looked from Melody to Triton, who seemed smaller and more frail than ever in his chair, and felt the urge to escape. "I need to think. I'm sorry." Her hand covered her mouth as she whirled round, unable to process her thoughts and grief, and Melody heard the voices of Finn and Bay outside as a distraught Zafrina emerged. Triton looked pleadingly at Melody as she began to back away.

"Melody, _please..."_ his voice was high and desperate as he looked for some sign of agreement.

"I need a minute." Melody tore herself away from him, rushing outside to try and get her head around it all. Triton slowly shook his head, as though he'd given up. He covered his face with one hand, his heart sick and sad, as he contemplated his family's fate, not caring about his own. _They're doomed. And I can't do anything about it. They were my only hope._


	6. Mother and child

Zafrina sat on the swing, eyes staring into space. She and Bay had crafted an underwater garden in the crevice that concealed their cave, and some of the seaflowers they'd planted had started to bloom. They'd made a swing out of seaweed and a wooden plank from a shipwreck, long enough to hold two. Her hands were curled around the left swing seaweed, her face resting on her wrist, her gold bangles glinting like her eyes, glossed from tears.

On the sandy floor, Melody closed her own, trying to think. _How can we possibly leave him before he dies? How can we abandon our family, worrying about us, such stress in a time of grief... what will they think of us? Florian, my mom..._

"How can we go to Wundagore?" Zafrina asked, the question that had been on everyone's lips for the last hour. Her hands covered her forehead, her elbows on her tail. "We might have to go back past Nia's kingdom. We'll have to revisit that horror for a start."

"Past, not through." Bay mentioned, trying to sound optimistic, although that failed to hide his reluctant tone. He looked at Finn in hope that he'd support him anyway, but Finn looked as pale as Melody, eyes lost in memory. At Bay's look of concern, Melody glanced up at Finn, and touched his hand to bring him back to reality. His nightmares were about that place. It was where his mother had been murdered after all.

"She attempted to conquer Wundagore when we were fifteen." Finn said, in a distant voice. "She stopped when the army came back in tatters... there's people down there with powers like Nia. It's where her father came from."

"That wasn't confirmed..."

"Where else would she have gotten her powers from?" Nia was said to be the illegitimate daughter of a dark stranger who had spent suspicious amounts of time with Finn's maternal grandmother, the queen of what had been Nia's kingdom - or as it was actually called, Belixia, before Nia had smothered out it's identity. That stranger had originated from Wundagore, so when Nia displayed magical powers and her younger sister Merissa didn't, it was suspected that the former queen had fallen under the stranger's spell - a metaphorical one. Nia, with her pale skin and blonde hair, also looked nothing like the former king, who shared similar olive skin and dark brown hair with Merissa and Finn.

"It'll be dangerous, then." Bay sighed.

"It's cold there, too." Zafrina said, looking at Melody. "The furthest border has a little ice. Beyond that it's the Arctic Kingdoms." That was where few common merfolk - what humans perceived to be the only merpeople - lived permanently. The 'icepeople' inhabited those waters as well as the Antarctic ones, a race of merpeople who were similar to common merfolk yet adapted to the icy waters. They kept to themselves and were known for their white hair and complexions, and smooth, shark-like skin as opposed to scales on their tails. Melody hadn't seen any on her 'Antarctic expedition' - Morgana had probably scared them off.

"Wundagore's a place for magic people and fugitives. After Ursula's defeat most seawitches had retreated there to practice their magic in peace..."

"Too bad Nia hadn't gone there - she would have saved us a lot of hassle." Said Zafrina, dryly. "She'd have fit in perfectly with her mind-control and spying equipment." Melody identified that the others were clearly trying to think of every excuse in the book not to go. They were all terrified to go to Wundagore. She wanted so much to agree, but the words she thought of did not reflect her thoughts.

"But if we don't go, Lysidus and his aquademons will kill us and everyone we love anyway." Melody said, finally. "If he's as strong as grandfather says, it's inevitable he'll manage to get to the Abraxia stone eventually. He's made immortal, and we can't protect an indestructible stone forever. It's inevitable he'll get his hands on it unless we find Circe and make her destroy it." There was a long minute of quiet.

"It'll be our fault." Finn broke the silence.

"There's no question. We have to go to Wundagore." Melody murmured, through closed eyes. There was a long, uncomfortable moment, as they all waited for one them to leap up in arms and angrily voice their wish not to go on a treacherous journey yet again. But no one did, for they all knew they hadn't a choice. Zafrina looked tensely at her cousin, wanting to say something.

"I'm with you whatever you decide." Bay murmured to Zafrina, stirring her out of her suspense. They looked into each other's eyes for a long moment, as though having a private telepathic conversation, and his silver gaze calmed her fears slightly.

"Alright, then." Zafrina said, albeit with a strained note to her voice.

"When?" Finn's own shook slightly.

"He wants us to leave as soon as possible. But we can't leave him before..." Melody's voice grew thick, and Zafrina looked away, teeth clenched.

"Can't we?" Zafrina forced the words out. Melody looked sharply at her, not expecting Zafrina to suggest leaving before Triton's death. Zafrina took Bay's hand, as though to support herself. "We have to let him die knowing that his family might be safe. Nobody should die with unfinished business. It would be cruel to let him die thinking everyone he loves is doomed." She looked at Melody, with her piercing gaze that made Melody realize she was right. "We have to go. Before Aquata and my mother realize we're planning something."

"I need to see my mom. And Florian, before I go. And I want to say goodbye to him properly..." The look on Zafrina's face confirmed she did, too.

"We'll have to pack." Finn put a hand on Melody's. "It'll be a long journey. A dangerous one. We'll maybe take some food, some coins, and we should all take something... in case we encounter someone unfriendly."

"In other words, taking a weapon in case someone tries to murder us." Said Zafrina, bluntly. Finn's eyes flashed, and Bay looked a little uncomfortable.

 _"Zafrina."_ Said Melody, softly, but Zafrina made to no move to show she would apologize. _We're all on edge, I suppose..._ "I'm going to see my parents. I need to make sure my mother's okay."

 _Later_

"Right, little man. I'm going away for a while. You won't see me for a few weeks, but when I come home, we're going to spend a lot of time together. Can you look after mommy and daddy for me? Behave, don't scream the castle down in the middle of the night - be good for them, please?" Florian slept away in her arms, oblivious, but at six months old he wouldn't understand anyway. Melody absent mindedly stroked his red hair, waiting for her mother to wake from her nap.

Eric had just left to see if she was awake yet; he'd told her that Ariel had been in a state, and that she'd only just managed to fall asleep. Maybe she'd find comfort dreaming back to when she was living happily with both parents and her sisters as a little girl? Melody and Eric had sat on the steps, talking, with him comforting her for her would-be loss; he'd asked if she was alright, she'd lied yes.

She'd mentioned that they were going travelling to distract themselves from their grief, to explain where they would be for the next few weeks. She'd decided against telling him that it was a journey to defeat an immortal freak and save the ocean. Maybe her lie wasn't entirely false; Melody would rather be focusing on another task than her bereavement. Eric understood, so hopefully Ariel would too.

"What on earth am I going to say to her, Florian?" Melody whispered, rocking him gently, gazing down at his peaceful, innocent face. Florian's tiny hand was curled around a piece of her hair, but she didn't mind. "What can you say when your mom is about to lose someone she loves so much, and she can't say goodbye properly? It's worse that I'm going away for so long."

A shadow appeared over the sand, and Melody slowly turned her head, her cheeks wet with her tears. Ariel was still in the same nightclothes she'd been wearing when Aquata and Alana had broken the news, her hair was a mess. Melody tried not to cry even more as Ariel sank to the sand beside her, as Ariel slowly drew her into her arms, careful not to disturb Florian. Mostly, it was for Ariel's own comfort.

"Mom, it'll be okay..."

"I should be comforting _you_... oh, look at me." Ariel's lips shook and uncontrollable tears were tumbling down her cheeks, her eyes red. "I'm a blubbering mess!" Ariel wiped her tears with her sleeve, and her sobs woke Florian. Ariel's face flooded with guilt as she took him from Melody, and held him close, her hand clasped over the back of his hair, which merged into hers. Melody took her mother's free hand, and wrapped her other arm around Ariel and Florian. Mother and daughter comforted each other, one of land and one of the sea, sitting on the border that connected their two worlds.

After an hour, Ariel seemed a little better, and the wind was whipping up and the tide was coming in; she should take Florian inside. Melody pushed a special shell into her hand before she went. "So you can see him again." Melody murmured. Ariel felt a memory stirring inside her, of when she was a mermaid; a communication shell, allowing the user to see and talk to the other who possessed a connected shell. Fresh tears flooded Ariel's eyes as she kissed Melody on the forehead, realizing Melody had given her the most precious gift; to see her father, one last time.

"You are my world, my darling. You and Florian. I won't forget this." Melody held back her own tears as Ariel whispered a thank you. "Have a safe trip. Have fun, and don't be away too long." Melody felt awful, keeping her true intentions from Ariel, again.

"I won't." She said, hoping that would be true. She kissed Florian's freckled cheek, and he blinked at her, reaching out with a hand to touch her face, confused that it was wet, and she laughed, tears falling all the more. "See you soon, Florian. I love you!" Melody then returned to the sea, looking back at Ariel and her baby brother as she did. She didn't stop looking until the waves had swallowed her, and Ariel, with Florian held on her chest, had gone up the steps and back into the castle.


	7. Packing

_**I'd love some genuine comments on the story as opposed to bickering. Thank you, and to stop any ill will I will be removing any not-so-nice reviews aimed towards other anonymous users from now on.**_

 _ **To clarify, no, Tip and Dash won't be appearing. I don't like those characters, and that's my choice. And let's be realistic, I don't think there's enough time for Melody to go all the way to Antarctica for their help. I don't think she would want to put her childhood friends in harm's way, and I think a main group of four is the maximum. I know a thing or two from my earlier stories about having too many main characters, and it's a nightmare to balance so many. Sorry to disappoint any other fans of the characters.**_

Finn threw a bag on the bed, and started wandering around, wondering that he should take. The thought of going to Wundagore distracted him from his sorrow regarding Triton's oncoming demise, but not necessarily in a good way; he was afraid of going somewhere that reminded him so much of Nia. What if they met more merpeople like her? More powerful ones? Wundagore had the most magic people anywhere in the ocean. If Morgana hadn't been frozen, maybe she would have skidaddled to Wundagore.

 _Zafrina's right - it's on the route to Belixia... as if it couldn't get worse._ He'd started calling it by it's original name again, as opposed to 'Nia's kingdom'. It reminded him of a happier time when the place was pretty, when the people were happy and his mother was alive, without having to say Nia's name.

Finn curled his hand around Merissa's knife, praying he would never have to use it, as he placed it in it's sheath, concealing the small blue gemstones studdiing the centre to the tip. He hid it in the bottom of his bag; he'd put those days behind him, and when the battle had ended he'd hoped the knife would merely become an heirloom as opposed to the weapon it was designed to be.

He felt pathetic; he shouldn't be so scared, should he? _Melody's so much stronger than me. She almost died... but she's the least effected of all of us._ When he woke up cold and shivering, plagued by nightmares, Melody would fight away his fears with her words of reassurance and her hugs. And when she was feeling down, he'd lift her up. They were pillars of strength to each other. _I'll have her beside me... I won't be so alone this time, when we have to go back through familar territory._

It had been until after Nia's reign of tyranny had ended that he'd realized how much she'd effected him. Training sessions were beyond brutal. One time, when he'd refused to fight an already beaten merman called Narcissus, she'd seized his arm and cut it with her sword until he'd been screaming for her to stop. Otan had gladly stepped in to volunteer that he would fight Narcissus instead; not out of pity, but to show off and to make Finn look like a coward. The scar had faded now, but sometimes Finn thought he could still see a faint darkness there. She'd trained him to hurt without feeling remorse. And although he didn't feel the remorse so much, he hated her for it. He _should_ feel guilty.

 _"Finnley."_ Finn froze. That voice wasn't in his head. Only four merpeople in his life called him by his real name; Bay and Merissa, and Otan and Nia, except in a mocking tone. This voice was cold. He turned around, and the moment he saw her, he leapt back and knocked a table, sending a shell flying off it, where it cracked in two on the floor. His knuckles went white, the table edges biting into his hands, as he gripped it in shock.

Nia floated there, as still as a statue, her face eerily still. Her greying blonde hair was drawn harshly from her scalp, revealing a receeding hairline, even if she was barely over forty, just like how she'd worn it when she were alive. Her eyes were grey, not like Bay's; as cold and dead as stone. She was bleeding, the end of a sword piercing through her abdomen, the handle sticking out from her back, almost looking funny. The exact place and sword Finn had used to kill her. She smiled, a cloud of red emerging like breath on a freezing day, his last memory of her being her laughter, choking up blood as she did.

"Not... possible." Finn barely got the words out in his shock. He'd killed her. He still remembered the feeling of the engraved sword handle, the pain in his head from where he'd been knocked out moments before.

 _"Darling... you have_ no idea _what's possible..."_

"What happened to that shell?" Finn jumped, whirling round to see Melody. She leaned down, rescuing the two pieces from the floor. She raised them eye level. "Never mind. I think we could glue it back together." Finn frantically looked back at Nia, but she was gone. There was no sign that she'd been there at all, not even the red cloud. He shuddered, staring at it still. Melody blinked, looking at the space too, but there was nothing there. "Finn, what's wrong? You look as though you've seen a ghost..."

 _You know me so well._

"I'm fine." Finn said, tightly. He tore his eyes from the space, forcing an artificial smile. "How was Ariel?" Melody was suspicious at such a sudden change of tone. Something was amiss.

"She's..." Melody looked at the two pieces of shell in her hand. "Coping." She decided, as she placed the shell pieces back on the table, making a mental note to repair it later. She looked at Finn, concerned by the expression on his face. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Just worrying, I suppose!" Finn exclaimed, trying to keep his tone light. "Coping? Is she... stronger, than you thought?"

"I think so. She has dad and Florian to comfort her, and they seemed to take the news of our journey well. I also gave her the communication shell so she can talk to him one last time." Melody gave him a pained smile. "Thanks for suggesting it." There was a brief silence, before she floated past him, brushing his arm lightly with her fingertips. "Maybe I should pack." She disappeared into the next room. Finn looked again at the empty space, heart thudding, before shaking his head and following her. He'd been thinking about Nia; maybe that was why he'd imagined she was there.

 _Don't be such a fool..._

"I've done some." Finn mentioned, his voice back to somewhat normal. Melody noted the hooded black cloak on the bed next to his bag, and, reminded, unhooked hers from the wall - hers was dark crimson, hooded as well. A cloak would be handy considering it was a little colder down there, and made them less identifiable. She hunted out her bag from under the bed, and her eyes turned to her ring collection.

She found a particular one; a pair of silver angel wings, an eighteenth birthday from Ariel; so that she'd be protected, 'a guardian angel' sort of thing. The wing tips were almost dangerously sharp - the wing tips normally pointed towards the wrist, but when she turned them the other way so the wingtips pointed towards her nail, it could make a painful scratch. Obviously she'd need more than a ring to defend herself, but it was a start.

"What's Zafrina and Bay taking?"

"Zafrina has a bow, but -" he stopped himself saying 'she clearly doesn't want to use it'. He'd seen her hands shuddering as she put arrows into it. "Bay's got a spear. What about you? Fancy being an archer?" Finn smiled to bring the colour back into his face.

"Well, considering how I almost shot Grimsby on my first attempt when I was fifteen... not a bow and arrow. I'll take..." she spotted a staff in the corner, which was her height. She'd been using it, Finn and her, as part of some self-defence classes she'd asked of him; they'd been pretending it was a sword or spear. "That'll do."

"Just the staff?"

"It's quite heavy if you swing it." Melody wrapped her fingers around the middle, and felt it's slight weight as she lifted it. It had likely once been part of some sort of infrastructure, for it was some sort of dark, non-shiny metal. She looked it up and down. "I think so." She tossed it on the bed, and turned to Finn, to ask him something; but then there was a stricken voice.

"Melody, Finn!" Sebastian came shooting through the window like a red comet. He stopped to speak, before he noticed the bag, the staff and the cloaks on the bed. Sebastian looked sharply at Melody and Finn, and they stared at him, waiting for him to ask if they were going somewhere. It was incredibly obvious that he knew it. But, miraculously, he didn't say what they were expecting. Perhaps it was his stricken state, or he pretended not to be suspicious. "His majesty... he's gotten worse. He wants to see you both, and Zafrina and Bay. Immediately!" Sebastian looked again at the collection on their bed, before vanishing. _He suspects... but he hasn't said anything._ Melody finally absorbed the reality of Sebastian's words.

Melody found she could barely support herself. She had to take Finn's hand. _He's gotten worse._ They both knew what that meant. "It'll be okay." She heard Finn's voice. But they both knew time was running out. They were leaving, tonight.


	8. Last goodbye

Melody and Finn swam slowly down the corridor, with Zafrina and Bay following. Melody was very aware of how terrified she was; she was grasping Finn's hand as though it were all she knew. They continuously looked behind them to check on Bay and Zafrina; Melody felt a wave of sympathy for her beloved cousin, who looked as terrified as she felt; as though Zafrina was considering turning and fleeing.

They stopped when they turned the corner, to find Adella, crying with Seth and Jamorian held in each arm. The toddlers didn't understand, of course, why Adella was so upset. "Mommy, why are you crying?" One of the twins asked - they were so identical, Melody struggled to tell them apart, but she thought it was Jamorian. Her heart gave a painful twist from her sympathy for her aunt and young cousins who didn't know they were about to lose their grandfather. At first they kept swimming, but then they stopped, unable to just swim past. Melody glanced at Zafrina in uncertainty.

"Adella, are you..." Zafrina began. Adella looked up with misery.

"Just go see him." Adella sobbed, before rising and swimming away, carrying Seth and Jamorian. The two looked curiously over their mother's shoulders. Reluctantly, but respecting Adella's painful state of mind, they went on. Triton's chamber grew closer, and Melody willed it to shrink, but it only seemed to get closer faster. She focused on Finn's hand, it's warmth all she felt. For a merman, his hands were soft. It was the only thing keeping her anchored. Just before they reached the entrance, Melody and Finn turned, for they heard high-pitched whispering.

"I can't. I can't..."

"Yes you can." Bay held both sides of Zafrina's face, holding it close to his own. "You're strong. I know it. Do it for him. He'll want to say goodbye to you." There was a brief moment where Melody was afraid Zafrina would refuse, but then she pulled away from Bay and looked straight ahead. She took that as confirmation, but felt guilty that she hadn't said a word of comfort yet to Zafrina. She didn't know it, but Zafrina had acknowledged this with acute anger.

"Okay." Melody held onto Finn's hand as they went into Triton's chamber, where he'd been moved to after Adella had returned from her errand to find him slumped in his chair. It had been quite a shock considering she hadn't been told just how ill Triton was. Aquata was searching for her teenaged sons to tell them, while Alana and Adonis were still searching for Zafrina's sisters. Perhaps it was a good thing, so they wouldn't overhear their plan to leave.

But then they saw it for themselves, and stopped dead. A sound between a gasp and a cry of despair escaped Melody's lips for a brief moment.

Bay's hand pushed hard through his hair; Finn had to hold Melody's hand tighter; Zafrina's hand covered her mouth; Melody found it hard to breathe. How? How had a few hours made such a terrible difference? He was paler than ever. One of Triton's hands lay limply on the blankets, and he was shrunken into the bed. Melody thought she saw a slight reddish stain in his beard around his mouth. She tried not to start crying; he looked as though he were in pain.

"Have you been coughing up..." Bay began to ask.

"It doesn't matter now." Triton said, and it was clear he was finding it hard to talk. He struggled to sit up.

"Please don't! Save your strength!" Zafrina pleaded, the first to go forwards and hold his hand. Melody sat just behind Zafrina, on the very edge of the bedside, fingers trembling. She tried to find her own strength, as Triton's eyes filled with pleading, that same desperate look returning to his face. He was probably going to beg them to help, the desperation almost possessive. _I can't let him worry like this._

"Don't worry." Melody silenced him. She glanced at the others for any sign of a final protest, but found none, to her relief. "We're going to Wundagore." She said, softly, and, despite being slow, Zafrina nodded with her. Triton stared at them, shocked, surprised when earlier, they'd fled the room in fear. Then they identified the overwhelming relief and gratitude in his tired eyes. They slid shut and he slumped, as if greatly relieved.

"Good." He finally managed. His cracked lips shuddered into a smile. "Thank you." Melody saw all the tension melt away. Peace washed over his aged face like a wave. For a moment her heart raced as she waited for his chest to rise again, but then it did, to her relief. It was less laborious, as his inner turmoil subsided. But it was still weak. He wasn't going to recover. "Be careful... look out for each other. And keep the stone hidden from view. You'll find Circe in a part of Wundagore where the sand is black."

"Black sand?" Finn asked, echoing Melody's confused thoughts. Since when could sand be black? Nevertheless, they nodded to show they understood. Triton was struggling to reach something on the side table. Melody leapt up to get it for him. She suddenly felt a slight warmth coming from what she held; it was a bronze colour, a tear-drop shaped casket with a branch-like design. She lifted the latch, and yellow light came from the gap.

"There's your Abraxia stone." Triton murmured. Melody pressed the casket shut, unsure where to put it, before entrusting it to Finn. Finn peered inside, and Bay came over to have a look, for he hadn't seen it before. Finn looked at the translucent yellow jewel, a little on edge; the way it glowed and dimmed, it was like it was thinking, or keeping back uncontrollable power. "Be careful with it. There are some creatures out there who can sense it's power." Finn and Bay slowly looked at one another. Magic creatures would be drawn to its power?

"That's comforting." Bay whispered. "Will we be stalked?" Finn was disturbed just by looking at the gem, let alone this new infomation. It felt wrong, as though it shouldn't exist. _It shouldn't exist._ He didn't answer Bay as he closed the Abraxia stone's casket.

"Please." Zafrina pleaded. "Let us stay with you, until after..."

"No! You cannot wait!" Triton realized the urgency had made him almost shout. He softened his voice. "Please. You must go now. Lysidus is getting closer as we speak... you need to get a head start, so you can find Circe before he finds the stone." Zafrina shook with her grief, looking desperately at Melody, hoping Melody could persuade Triton to let them stay.

Melody closed her eyes, but the tears seeped through the lids. She looked at the dying sea king with tear-filled eyes, struggling to speak. "I... we can't just... _leave_ you..."

"I'll be with you..." Triton took his granddaughter's hand, and Zafrina's, so he could address them as one. Zafrina's eyes blazed in the dark room, as she listened, as she tried to contain herself, and Melody struggled to keep her weeping silent. "...everywhere you go, no matter where you find yourself, I'll be right there with you. Please. Go. You're my hope." Melody's face crumpled like paper, as she Zafrina leaned over to hug him one last time.

Behind Melody and Zafrina, Finn and Bay were fighting their own tears, and failing, watching this emotional scene, to see Melody and Zafrina in such agony. For almost a minute, Melody and Zafrina remained there, in this final embrace. Then they knew it was time. With tears leaking into the water around her, Zafrina kissed her grandfather on the cheek, before turning and forcing herself to swim away. Melody took longer to leave, her hand still in Triton's.

"Please, just do one last thing for me... and say goodbye to my mother?" Melody placed the connected shell into his open palm, and his fingers slowly closed over it.

"Of course." Triton said. Melody stared at him, realizing this would be the last time she'd see him alive. Her lips shook and pressed together, as she looked at her hand in his, as tears continued to seep through her eyes. After everything, this was where it ended? He'd given her her locket, the possession she treasured most; he'd so easily forgiven her after she'd naively stolen the trident from him; he'd been responsible for turning her into a mermaid after she'd made the choice to live as one permanently. He was the reason they'd travelled across the ocean last year, so really, he was the reason why she'd fallen in love with Finn. And now, he was on the verge of death.

"You changed my life. Thank you for everything." Melody slowly let go of his hand. She offered a smile to him, her heart constricting painfully.

"Goodbye, Melody." Triton returned her smile, trying to hide his pain. Melody joined Finn at the exit, looking back one final time. She attempted to reply, but it took a few attempts for her to force the words out. Her fingers intertwined with Finn's, held it tight to give her support. She tried to forget the pale, grey merman that lay, so frail, before her, to a time when he had smiled without pain, when there had been colour in his face.

"Goodbye, grandfather." Then she made herself turn around, and swim down the corridor. She just about managed to reach the end before she had to spin round and crush Finn in an embrace, to again anchor herself. Finn held Melody tight, to stop her from falling apart, and they held onto one another as if they were the only living things in the world.

In his chamber, Triton could feel that time was limited. He had to contact Ariel now while he still could.

Marco was curled up next to Ariel on the bed; she didn't care if Carlotta complained that dogs shouldn't be on the furnishings, especially not now. They hadn't had Marco long, but the spaniel already sensed that she was sad, so he rested his chin on her leg, big brown eyes on her face. Ariel stroked him with one hand, her other arm hung over the side of the crib, the back of her fingers brushing Florian's face.

Ariel rested her chin on the crib edge, gazing down at a sleeping Florian with tight, strained eyes. She was both numb, tired, and pained. Marco was a comfort but watching her baby sleep made her feel better. She'd asked Eric to leave her alone for a few hours, needing some time to think about it all, where she could be in silence with Florian and her thoughts. His chest steadily rose and fell, his sweet little face twitching as he dreamt. She thought she was about to fall asleep herself, but then she heard music. Marco's head lifted immediately, alert. Her head lifted off the crib side, and her hand dove into her pocket to get the shell. Ariel briefly hesitated, hands shaking; was she emotionally capable of facing him?

"Ariel." Her tears immediately started dripping down her face. "I'm not looking my best, am I?"

"Why didn't you tell me?" Ariel wasn't angry at all, but she wanted to understand. "You could have easily gotten Sebastian or Flounder to tell me, or Melody and my sisters... why did you keep me in the dark?"

"I didn't want to worry you. I've known for a while... It would be unfair, to have you and your other sisters worrying all this time..." Ariel released a sob.

"I know." She wept. Ariel looked at the vision of her father through the shell. She drew her sleeve across her face, sensing that Triton was soon going to close the shell. "Let me show you Florian." She angled the shell into the crib, so Triton could see Florian sleeping. With her father unable to see her face, Ariel took this moment to close her eyes tight, hand clasped over her mouth to stop herself sobbing aloud. Marco whined slightly, sensing her distress.

"Bless him. I'm so proud..." he sounded more tired. Ariel blinked rapidly, forcing a smile as she turned the shell back. There was a long moment of silence.

"You changed my life." Without knowing, Ariel echoed Melody.

"I'm sorry I didn't do all of it right."

"But you did it out of love. You only wanted to protect me, all those years."

"I love you, Ariel."

"I love you so much. I'll never forget you."

The shell connection ended. Ariel was left with an empty, ordinary shell. She pressed her lips together, and gently put it down. For a moment, she was silent, then she started to weep, quietly. She fell back onto the sheets, curling into herself, tears dripping onto the pillow. Ariel would have picked up Florian, but she didn't want to disturb him. She picked up Marco instead, hugging the spaniel to ease her pain.


	9. Onwards

Bay waited outside for Zafrina, breathing deeply, small part with nerves, but for the most, the tragedy he had just witnessed. Seeing Zafrina, who he loved most, in such fragility, had made his heart hurt. He wanted to comfort her, but Zafrina was the kind of mermaid who didn't allow anyone to see her 'weak'. It wasn't weak, he told her - strong emotions made one complex, and that was a good thing. She dealt with it on her own, she pushed them away. He knew it was bad, but he didn't want to cause her more anger and grief. Her mind wasn't easily changed.

Zafrina threw a few belongings into her bag, savage, with her grief and anger. She threw one with such force it bounced off the bed and onto the floor. She stared after where it had gone, before closing her eyes and resting the back of her hand on her forehead, her other hand on her hip. Her nails dug in, she realized, and retracted her hand. She wasn't ready for this. She wasn't ready to say goodbye or go on this ridiculous journey.

 _I suppose it's not ridiculous. So disrespectful... it was his dying wish. Dying? He's still alive! How can we travel knowing he'll either still be holding on, or dead?_ Zafrina had never experienced grief before, so she was finding it hard to cope. _I suppose Melody has... she lost Max._ Maybe losing a dog wasn't quite the same as losing a grandfather, but he'd been there as long as she remembered, and pets were family. Zafrina was just annoyed Melody hadn't said much to her. _I suppose it's grief too..._

Trying to blink away her tears, Zafrina slid her gold bangles onto her wrists and told herself to pull herself together. She swung her bag around her shoulder, and picked up her own hooded cloak, a shade of dark, olive green with gold embroidered edges that went with her mint-green tail. She pulled it over shoulders, clasping it by the hook-and-eye that sat around the collarbone. She winced at the weight, and lightly ran her fingertips around her neck, that had once been bruised. She shivered at memories, briefly distracted from her grief.

She went to pick up the bow and set of arrows, hesitating briefly, as she remembered what she'd confided to Melody, about feeling guilty. _I hurt people... hurting. Triton's hurting... stop it!_ She harshly pulled the weapon over her shoulder, but something stopped her. _My parents, my sisters..._

She couldn't say goodbye in person. Zoe, Zaidee and Zelda would probably be grieving for hours, time they couldn't afford to lose. So she seized a piece of parchment, crying as she wrote it, but she forced her usual voice into it.

 _Mom, Dad, Zoe, Zaidee, Zelda._

 _I'm sorry if this is a bit short notice. But I have to go away for a few weeks. You see, Triton left me and Melody a task to do, and it includes going to Wundagore and visiting this enchantress to destroy a pretty stone. I know, it sounds... random, confusing, a bit crazy. Triton begged us, and we couldn't say no. We did it so he could die peacefully. I'm sorry I couldn't stay or at least say goodbye._

 _Mom and dad, I know you and Aquata don't want us or anyone to go. I know you're just trying to protect us, I really do, but for our future, and for him, we have to return the stone before it's too late. My sisters, I'll be thinking of you all. I hope you'll be okay. I love you._

 _\- Zafrina_

 _Ps. Sorry I've left for another journey without telling you. Don't worry, I haven't broken anyone out of prison this time._

Zafrina folded the note, and held it in her hand as she turned and looked at the painted walls once more. She had what she needed. She sighed and swam out to meet Bay. Ever-attentive, he rushed to greet her. "You alright?" Zafrina forced a smile.

"I'm fine. I just want to swim this note to my parents."

"If you ever want to talk to me," Bay murmured. "I'm right here." Zafrina smiled with tear-glossed eyes. "I'll carry your stuff if you want, while you're there." She gratefully handed over the bow and arrows, glad to be rid of them, and left a kiss on his cheek, before hurrying across the dark seabed. The Atlantica palace glinted in the distance, the gold turned silver from night. She looked anxiously; Triton's room was still lit. Did that mean he was still alive?

Zafrina quietly opened the door, drifting in like a moonbeam. She placed the note on a table, weighing it down with a pebble. She turned to go, but something stopped her. She glanced back at the note, wanting to leave something else. Zafrina reached into her bag, which was naturally full of nonessentials she wouldn't need. She hadn't worn her plum lipstick for some time, but her family would immediately know it was hers, so she left it next to the note.

Suddenly Zafrina paused, hearing the familiar sound of sobbing. Slowly, she came up to the main room kelp curtain, looking in, and felt her heart begin to split. Zoe, the second eldest after Zafrina, was comforting Zaidee and Zelda despite her own upset. All three were in floods of tears, huddled together. Guilt poured out of Zafrina; it should be her comforting them, shouldn't it?

Zafrina wondered where her parents were, desperate for her sisters to have comfort. She desperately wanted to rush in and hug all of them to her, comforting them in this time, but if she did, she'd never leave. _I'll be back. I promise_.

 _Later_

"Good thing you took out _Map of the Underwater World."_ said Bay, from where he leaned against the wall, awaiting Zafrina. Melody and Finn floated nearby, cloaks on. Melody had her staff, resting on it as she studied the map Finn held. Bay had a underwater lantern in one hand, lit by a few magically glowing pebbles. It was so sturdy it could easily be used as a weapon, so Bay had decided not to bring a spear, as that would draw a lot of attention. He still had a knife, just in case.

"I just wish I didn't have to rip the pages out... but the book's so heavy. I wanted to pack light." Melody was desperately trying to not think about Triton, her mother, Florian, or anyone else. She distracted herself with the accurate map page - and enormous fold-out map, it was as though it was made to be torn out. It showed enough of this part of the merworld to show both Atlantica and Wundagore on it. Atlantica was located at the very bottom, with Wundagore a little way from the top. Small settlements and important crevices had been marked out, and even shark-invested places and whale migration paths.

Melody identified Pramheda, a crevice town they'd passed through on their first journey, but they'd had to make a hasty getaway upon realizing that Nia's minions had been looking for them there. She also noticed Belixia, which had a red cross next to it; probably a key to show that it was dangerous. She looked at Finn, who was looking on edge, his eyes fixed on his birth kingdom. Wundagore too had a red cross, but it was bigger than she'd expected, with many towns in it. The Arctic Kingdoms were marked out just at the top, the next page in the book showcasing those. Bay and Finn, being most familiar with the land, had marked out a route with white ink.

"Are you sure we should retrace that route?" Melody asked, thinking about Finn and Bay, as well as Zafrina; Belixia was rather close to the path they'd drawn, and it brought back unpleasant memories. Bay, as if remembering, anxiously pulled his cloak edge forward so it obscured his scar.

"It's the fastest one. Most familiar." Bay managed to hide his discomfort. "We're least likely to get lost. You're alright with it, aren't you, Finn?" But he was distracted; that familiar traumatised look, the one Melody had swam into earlier before Sebastian had called them to Triton, his eyes fixed on a space a few metres away. "Finn?" Bay said, loudly.

"That route's fine." He sounded startled, but then they heard someone approaching. Zafrina appeared around the large boulder they'd agreed to meet at, looking like she'd just stopped crying.

"Are we ready?" She asked, in a high-pitched voice.

"Are you alright, Zafrina?" Melody went across to her. Zafrina looked almost surprised, but didn't comment.

"I am." She looked so pleased that Melody had asked her how she was. There was a long pause, as they took it Atlantica before they left.

"Should we get going?" Finn threw a bag over his shoulder, worriedly glancing at the space he'd looked so oddly at before. Bay carried Zafrina's bow and arrows for her, and she whispered a 'thank you'. Bay and Finn started swimming, but Zafrina and Melody milled back, still looking at Atlantica in the distance.

"You know, when we get back, my mother's going to kill me." Zafrina murmured.

"Don't worry. I ran away from home too. At least you didn't steal the trident in the process." This made Zafrina chuckle a little. Their familiar friendship arose so things felt less fractured. Melody linked arms with her best friend and cousin and started following Finn and Bay, her free arm holding her staff. Zafrina rolled her neck and flexed her arms, preparing for the journey ahead, getting herself in the state of mind. Melody may have made her smile, but Melody looked back at Atlantica, not wanting to leave it, but most of all, wondering how long it would be until she'd see it again, and whether it would feel the same when she did.

Then she saw it; the light in Triton's window. It had gone out. Zafrina realized that she was pulling on Melody's arm, and it made her turn around too. Her gaze followed Melody's, and a light in her eyes died too. They looked at each other, and it was there they shared a hug for the first time in too long. But for some reason it didn't feel the same.


	10. A hint of power

_**Sorry for the wait... its been a hard week.**_

Melody was curled up on her side, unable to sleep now that she knew her grandfather had passed away. The light going out may not have been a definitive sign to say this - maybe he'd just gone to sleep. But in her heart she knew it to be true that this sleep was the sort that lasted forever. She had felt it, as though part of her had died with him. She felt so empty, and knew that was nothing compared to what her mother felt. She missed Ariel, Eric and Florian already.

Tears came from her eyes as she looked at the lantern in the middle of the sand between them. The pebbles within cast a gentle gold light that didn't make her feel any better. It casted light towards Zafrina and Bay; Bay was on a rock, arm hanging down so it brushed Zafrina's, who faced Melody as she slept, eyelashes shadowing her cheeks; even in sleep Melody saw the dark, constricted skin around her eyes showed she had been crying too.

They'd travelled until Atlantica had faded from view before finding somewhere to sleep for the night. Melody had kept away her grief until everyone else had fallen asleep, before she'd freed her tears. She pulled her cloak over her more tightly, even if it wasn't cold - she needed comfort. The warm feeling of Finn next to her didn't do much to console her. Her eyes casted to her bag, and she reached in to extract the stone. She turned the cage-like casket, feeling a slight warmth even through the wire. Out of curiosity and the desperation to forget her mourning, she lifted the latch and opened it, letting the stone fall into her hand.

The jewel puzzled her. She wasn't entirely sure what it did, she couldn't remember exactly what Triton had said. She thought she remembered something about it projecting energy. What did that mean? It had made Lysidus and his fellow aquademons immortal, too - to what extent did its powers lead? She held it up to her face, intrigued, distracted from her sorrow.

How had Circe created such a thing? She must be incredibly powerful, to have 'seawitch' upgraded to 'enchantress.' Why would she do something so reckless? It was only now she'd realized there was so much infomation withheld. Had Triton been too weak to reveal more? Why had Circe cut off contact with Atlantica, leaving them in possession of a time bomb? There was so much they hadn't been told.

 _There's so much he's not telling me, either._ Finn was muttering in his sleep again. Normally she'd wake him up, but she was desperate and curious to know what he dreamt of. But it was too vague and inaudible to paint a picture. She leant close to his face, straining to hear, but eventually pulled back in frustration.

"I wish I could see your dreams." She murmured, gazing at his sleeping face, which twitched with unrest. But then something strange happened. A light crept up, casting light onto his face. She looked at the lantern, but it occured to her that the light was coming from her hand which enclosed the jewel. Suddenly it glowed fiercely. Melody's eyebrows creased into a frown, but she only peered closer. "What -"

Suddenly her surroundings melted away. The dark seawater and her sleeping companions trickled away like sand, and Melody leapt up in alarm, as the water was replaced by a familiar murkiness. The water seemed to acquire a more green tint in this kingdom. _It's Belixia._

Melody was shocked and didn't understand; she saw the ugly rock of Nia's stone tower, looming over her; it was less green with sea lichens and seaweed, and it almost looked new, as if it had just been built. She'd always assumed it was natural, but then it had perfectly carved tunnels... as if someone had used magic to do the unnatural. Nia could move things with her mind...

She felt the warmth of the stone in her hand, grasped it tightly, as she took in her surroundings. It looked nicer - less barnacles, less dead seaplants, than she remembered.

"Again." The hairs on Melody's neck rose as she spun around, recognizing the icy voice. She moved forwards, peering around a rock.

It was a training session. The owner of the voice was Nia, and she floated before about seven young merfolk, all not much older than fifteen. Melody recognised them all - her skin went cold when she identified the first. Otan, four or five years before the trident had first ruined his face and then disintegrated him later. He was a lot less bulky and surprisingly scrawny, and this all but confirmed her and Zafrina's agreement that he'd visited a seawitch to improve his physique. He appeared no less arrogant, with the familiar cruel glint in his dark eyes. She remembered their first encounter with discomfort.

Next to him was a spindly mermaid Melody remembered to be named Ontari; her hair was long and brown, stacked in layered braids, her tail dark purple and her skin very pale. She was currently imprisoned in Delorea, and responsible for a scar on Finn's ribcage. The three others, Melody remembered from an attack - the golden blonde was Narcissus, the black-haired one with dark areas around his eyes was Icarus, and the final mermaid was Ravenna. All three of those, to her knowledge, had left Belixia following Nia's fall, although she seemed to remember seeing Icarus dragging Ontari away as she was hauled up to the surface. As for the other two...

One was Bay and he looked worried sick, watching the merboy Nia had dragged out to the front; his hair was pulled into a knot at this time, as he wanted to protect himself from Nia's disapproving comments about overly long hair in battle. The merboy before them was holding a spear; his face and the way he held it showed he'd rather it be as far away as possible. His veins throbbed, a muscle twitching next to his eye; he was so exhausted by hours of work. She noticed it was near a certain birthmark, and she jolted.

It was there she realized; this was Finn, albeit with shorter hair and no stubble yet. His biceps were also unmarked by the tattoos Nia had forced him to have when he was sixteen. He looked her way, and Melody froze, but he didn't see her, even though she was in plain sight of both him and the entire group. With great effort, he launched a spear through the water, and it sliced towards a target painted on a coral.

"You missed." Nia spat, as it landed a foot from the center. She whirled round to him, and Finn, looking terrified, backed away. Otan looked smugly on, along with Ontari and Icarus. Bay, Narcissus and Ravenna winced at Nia's angry tone.

"I've been doing it for hours!" Finn sounded sick and tired.

"You're stronger than that! A soldier never gets tired!" Nia's hand flew out and Finn flinched, but it was only to seize the spear with her magic and throw it into his hands. Bay looked on anxiously, a lot more timidity in his eyes than it would now.

"I don't want to be a -" With all the lactic acid built up in his body, Finn didn't think about the consequences of these words. There was a long, tense silence. Bay looked terrified; Narcissus and Ravenna were holding their breaths; even Icarus and Ontari looked afraid of how Nia would respond. Otan looked like a child waking up on Christmas day. Nia was the personification of outrage.

"What cheek!" Nia screeched, looming over her nephew with blazing grey eyes. Melody looked on in horror, shaking with fear. "I'll make you wish you'd never been born!" Finn looked surprisingly unafraid. He was more angry than anything.

"I already do." Finn muttered, not quietly enough. Nia lost it. She withdrew her sword and rose it above her head, right over Finn, and a gasp came from Bay, but Otan's goading drowned it out. Finn threw the spear horizontally up, so to block the blow, but Nia's metal sword looked heavier than the wooden spear could tolerate. Melody parted her lips to cry out, but the horror of what she was seeing overwhelmed her; she wanted to escape. Her wish was granted as suddenly the illusion turned to mist.

The Abraxia stone lay on the floor, twinkling like a star, almost innocently. Melody had sat bolt upright, rigid, her tail drawn in, hands planted on the sand. She stared at the jewel, breathing hard. _What just happened?_ She took a few moments, mind racing, as she tried to figure out what on earth just happened. _Finn was about fifteen. It's a memory._ Melody realized the weight of this last word. _Memory. I wanted to see his dreams. He's dreaming back to that memory._ She'd been holding the stone... it obeyed whoever wielded it.

 _That's impossible..._ her imagination was running away with her, surely. She'd probably fallen asleep with it, and had a nightmare about Finn and Nia... she didn't think that was true. But she desperately didn't want the alternative to be true, either. Melody picked up the stone, glancing at Finn with her heart thrashing against her ribcage. Was it possible she really had just seen into his mind? It had felt like a nightmare; maybe it was one? Melody snapped the casket shut, deeply disturbed, and forced herself to go back to sleep.

Almost immediately, she was opening her eyes to the light blue water lit by day. Melody found that her friends' cloaks had been laid over her, and then she lifted herself off the sand, blinking tiredly, not remembering last night's incident. She glanced about, but there was no sign of the others.

"Finn?" She murmured. Where was everyone? It was then she remembered what happened last night, and unease set into her.

Then she heard the sound of a struggle. She sat up, initially confused to see that her friends weren't in sight, and as she heard the struggle, she assumed the worst, still on edge from her vision. With her staff no where in sight, she seized Zafrina's bow. Melody rushed up the sand rise, brandishing her weapon - but immediately stopped. There were no assailants - and Melody dropped her arm, utterly confused by the scene before her.

Zafrina and Finn were battling with the Abraxia stone. They were taking turns - Finn was whacking it with Melody's staff, and when that didn't work, Zafrina was bludgeoning it with a stone. Bay perched on a rock nearby, looking zoned out - they'd been at it for ages with no progress.

"It's been almost twenty minutes..." Bay murmured. "You've tried everything... the knife _broke..."_ The spare knife Bay had brought lay on the sand, the end broken off and the rest of the metal was slightly twisted. Finn slackened, and leaned on the staff, giving up. Melody instinctively searched his face for that haunted look, guilty that she hadn't thought to wake him out of his nightmare, but he didn't seem particularly shook.

Zafrina was bashing at the gem with a large rock, hammering it over and over. "Why - won't - you - break?" She hissed, annoyed, her arm growing increasingly more tired. "Look at it! It's not even chipped -" There was a large 'crack' - the rock she was using split in two, and the gem seemed to glow brighter, as if mocking them. Zafrina glared at the pieces and flung them aside.

"Hang on." Finn looked about, and went over to a larger rock - more like a small boulder. Bay, stirred from his daydream, got up to help - they held it over the yellow jewel. "Now!" The boulder plunged onto the stone, sending sand and dust flying up. The boys lifted it off, and went forwards hopefully - but disappointment flooded their gazes. Zafrina retrieved the perfectly intact stone, glowering at it, as it sparkled in her palm.

"No luck?" Melody asked, mildly. Finn looked up from his fatigue, smiling a little at the sight of her.

"Not a hint." Zafrina said, bitterly. "He's right. It's bloody indestructible..." She placed the stone into the casket and, admitting defeat, shoved it into her bag. She looked regrettably at Melody. "Looks like we've got a long journey after all." Melody filled with unease; what if their violent attempts to destroy the stone had put them in jeopardy? After last night, Melody thought it was unstable and dangerous. She thought about telling them; but how would she explain it?

 _So I was in a bit of a state last night and for some reason I took out the stone, no particular reason why. I made a wish and suddenly - whoosh, I saw Finn's mind and saw him suffer at the wrath of Nia in front of the merpeople who tracked us, plus the creepy guy Zafrina hates most. You didn't mind me poking around your brain, did you, angel?_ It was absurd. They'd think she was crazy, Finn wouldn't appreciate her looking into his mind, as secretive as he was. It was violating. And she couldn't be entirely sure if it had been a dream or not...

So why had it felt so real?


	11. Sinister

Bay swam after Zafrina and Melody, thinking to himself, as he swung the lantern in his hand, occasionally looking over his shoulder to make sure Finn was still behind them. They'd been travelling for a few days now, retracing the familiar route to Belixia, although they'd go beyond that. A old anchor bristling with barnacles stirred his memory, he'd seen it before.

"Sing something." Melody said, spontaneously, as they swam through the seaweed field, the very same one they'd gone through on their first travels.

"Huh?" Bay asked, roused from his observation.

"Anything. Just to lift the mood..." Melody said, a little uneasy. They were acutely aware that nearby was the shipwreck Otan had once ambushed Zafrina in, but they tried not to think about it. Zafrina leapt to ignore the nearby place she'd nearly died in.

"Why don't you sing?" Zafrina prodded Melody. Now that a few days had gone by, and the grief of losing Triton was not so fresh, their tension between one another had thawed. It was warming slowly, even if it wasn't quite back to what it once was yet. "Your mom had quite a reputation where singing was concerned, didn't she?"

"Well, I can... but not as well as she can. Whenever she sings Florian to sleep, he's out like a light. And I don't know many songs. I'll join in, if you have any suggestions?" Zafrina considered, before smirking, mischief rentering her golden eyes for the first time in a long time.

"How about 'My Sailor'?"

"...no."

"Come on, you love it."

"I hate it."

"No you don't!"

"It's about mermaids drowning sailors!"

"It's a satire!" Zafrina protested, yet Melody couldn't help but laugh. It was a satirical song, of merfolk making a mockery of the human myths telling of beautiful mermaids who lured sailors to their deaths. Some still liked to scare humans by coming up to the boat side and singing the dark song up to the terrified sailors and disappearing whenever they ran to look.

"Well I think it's hilarious. Shall we sing it anyway?" Zafrina pressed. Melody considered, realizing it could warm their relation a bit more. Bay, having noticed the recent distance, decided to lift their spirits by being the first to start singing.

 _"My sailor, come drown with me, fall into this abyss..."_ Zafrina and Melody began to join into the soft composition of the song; it was slow and gentle, almost haunting and gothic, even if they occasionally had to stop because they were laughing. "Come on Finn, join in!" They didn't look back at him. Finn drifted behind, not joining in, despite the fact that he was often told he had a beautiful singing voice. His mind was distracted by a presence that had melted out of the shadows a few moments ago.

He was afraid. Finn's eyes flickered between the stalks of seaweed. He occasionally stopped, hairs risen on his neck, thinking he'd felt a cold hand on his shoulder.

"I'd rather not do this right now." He said. Nia, like the monster within the labyrinth, was following him through the maze of seaweed. She lurked, pacing around him, eerily not speaking. Just watching him.

 _"My sailor, come drown with me..."_ He heard his friends singing in the background, but the slightly creepy tune of the song was putting him further on edge, even more so. He wasn't sure if she was real, or a figment of his imagination. But she was appearing. She swam in the corner of his vision, eyes glaring at him, the grey like knives, piercing him.

 _"Fall into this abyss..."_

If he didn't distract himself, there she'd be, lurking in the background, not speaking. She was doing just that, right now.

 _"Sink into the dark blue sea..."_

Since the first time he'd seen her, she hadn't said anything more; but she was more menacing this way.

"What do you want?" Finn demanded, but she still said nothing.

 _"I'll take you away, just like this..."_ The others were still singing and laughing. Finn breathed rapidly. She was like a shark; constantly following him, not saying a word, but more sinister than ever nonetheless. Suddenly she swept out of the seaweed, and blocked his path. Finn jolted and backed away, heart racing.

 _"Follow my voice, down, down... why won't you drown?"_

"Leave me alone!" He snapped.

"Woah! Fine, suit yourself." Bay swiftly swam ahead, from where he'd fallen back to check on him. Finn blinked in confusion, before realizing that Bay had been trying to say something to him. Nia's presence had meant Finn didn't hear him. Finn stared after his friend in guilt; what could he say? He was on edge because his aunt's ghost was tormenting him? He had Melody's staff, so he swung it through Nia, and she disappeared like smoke. Finn raced ahead, desperate to leave her behind. He grabbed Bay by the shoulder.

"Bay, I'm sorry..." Finn apologized, in a slightly higher pitched voice. "I was distracted..." Bay looked at him quizically, and shrugged to show his acceptance. But he looked worried. Finn was acting strangely. And like Zafrina and Melody, they seemed to be drifting apart too.

 _Far away_

"I can feel it. But... it's moved."

A hooded figure crouched before a small cluster of others, also hooded. This was a shady part of the sea; strange creatures passed by, heads down, huddling in groups, in a hurry. Dimly light shacks lined the underwater street, voices were so low and rushed it was as though there was a continuous hissing in the background. Unease was directed at this particular group - news of their escape had spread quickly, but nothing was being done to recapture them. Those who lead the place they'd been kept were all dead, and nobody else dared to approach. They'd had no challengers yet.

Several passers-by had glimpsed under their hoods and hastily rushed away, some shack doors had been slammed shut as they realized who they were. But despite the panic and unease, they weren't a threat at this moment. They were still undernourished from years of little food, slowly regaining their strength, and they wanted as few merfolk to know their location as possible. Their hunger meant that a growing pile of fish bones littered the ground. Their prison had been cruel for the last fifty years.

The main figure was hidden by a ragged cloak. It wasn't old, he had torn it himself. Beneath it, a limb protruded - it ended in five fingers, but there was something... reptilian, about it. It had hooked claws attached, like crescent moons. A cruel metal talon was attached to the thumb, for one of the claws had been sliced off years ago. The arm was scratched and marked by a burn scar; it was familiar, looking similar to the scarring Otan had received from the trident.

"We all sense it. We've sensed it for decades, but now it's faint... the signature is still there, after being there for long. But I'm uncertain of where it is..."

A female hissed. "We should go to Atlantica anyway. Show that wretched Triton... we'll frighten the living daylights from him."

"Living, Corva?" The hooded figure laughed. It was cold, it was a laugh that sent a chill rippling down the spine. A pair of dark eyes glinted underneath the hood. "Have you not heard the news? We're too late. He died of old age." His companions stared, shocked. Some were relieved, but most were clearly frustrated.

"I wanted to be the one to do the deed." Grunted a male, sounding bitter. Scorn filled his voice, but Corva leaned over.

"Now, now, Proximus." Murmured Corva. "He has dozens of other relatives... doesn't that sound better?" Proximus glanced up, eyes lit at the very thought. "You can kill them one by one... but save some for the rest of us."

"I'll try figure out where the stone is... I just need time, and to regain my strength. We all need to. If we all work together, we can pinpoint where it is, just like how we used to. But we'll go to Atlantica." The leader vowed, under his hood, snapping a fish bone in half. "We'll pay his descendants a visit and put on a show..."


	12. Protection

**_I'm changing the title to something more exciting at last. I'll let this sink in for a day or so, and then I'm going to change 'Dark Oceans' to 'Ocean of Darkness', or something along that line. I know, it's not drastically different, but it sounds a bit more interesting._**

 ** _Sorry, we're kinda in the 'filler' part of the story where not much is happening and I'm finding it hard to write, but we're past the worst and I'm kicking it up a notch in the next few chapters._**

 _A week later_

"How was it?" Zaidee heard Alex ask. This was the same blonde Alex Melody had once encountered as a twelve year old, and now he had been the boyfriend of Zafrina's younger sister Zoe; he and Zoe were taking a break, but he was still a friend of Zaidee. Zaidee drifted ahead, feeling slow and weighed down, like stone. Her eyes casted down, her arms wrapped around herself. She tugged on a piece of her slightly coarse black hair, inherited from Adonis.

"It was okay. He's next to Athena." She said, quietly. Zaidee had just come back from the funeral. The burial itself had been a private ceremony with all of Triton's relatives who could make it. Floating by her sisters and her parents, without Zafrina, had been like torture as they gathered around the grave. "Attina managed to make it. But Arista and Andrina couldn't, since they're so far away." Arista and Andrina's kingdoms were several weeks travel. They were on their way regardless, to visit the grave and their mourning sisters. "It was a beautiful ceremony... Sebastian, my aunts all made a few words. But we'll have a memorial ceremony with the whole kingdom as soon as Arista, Andrina, and Zafrina and Melody get back."

There was a pause. Alex hesitated before asking. "When do you think your sister and Melody will be back?" He was hoping to distract Zaidee from the rawness of the funeral.

"Well, it's Wundagore, so not any time soon. It's miles away." Zaidee's voice shook slightly. She'd heard interesting stories about the place. By interesting, she meant both scary and inspiring. It had a mixed history, a haven for fugitives and magic folk - a place for dangerous people. What if Zafrina got into trouble? Zaidee knew her sister was very capable of defending herself, but she still worried. Zafrina seemed to have become more fragile since the whole Nia endeavour.

They'd freaked when they'd spotted Zafrina's note. Alana and Adonis had gone rushing to find her, but they were far too late and had had to come back. Everyone was desperately worried, but after a few hours, they'd started to come round, realizing that it had been Triton's dying wish and the last thing they could do for him was respect his last decision and let him rest in peace. They were still out of their minds with worry nonetheless...

Zaidee and Alex swam on across the sand, wandering further away from Atlantica, going towards the stone columns that bordered the kingdom. A subtle marker of the main settlement edge, Atlantica was surrounded by very largely spaced piles of rock. As they passed through the ring, Zaidee and Alex suddenly felt strange. They both paused and looked back.

"Did you feel that?" Zaidee asked.

"I... I'm not sure..." Alex was uncertain of what he'd just felt. As they'd swam between the columns, their skin was left prickling, as if tiny needles had lightly brushed them. "I'm sure it's just a current." Currents weren't prickly...

"Let's keep going." Zaidee pulled on his arm, and they went on, with it slipping from their minds. After the funeral they'd met up with the intent of having a friend's day out to cheer her up, intending to go watch the dolphins. They always came to this area at this time, to play and chase fish, and it was wonderful to watcb.

Zaidee and Alex crested the hill that oversaw the dolphin valley, but then something made them stop. "Where are they?" Alex wondered out loud. The valley was deserted, not a dolphin in sight.

"That's strange... they're always here." Zaidee glanced at Alex, feeling strangely unsettled at this simple event. So what if they hadn't turned up? They could have gone somewhere else, or been spooked by something... so why did she feel uneasy? She looked at Alex, and he looked back, fear mingling with worry in his eyes. "Do you get the impression... that we're being watched?" Before Alex could respond, they sensed a presence. They had company.

Shadows casted across them, and Zaidee and Alex turned in confusion. A gasp came from both of them, as they lurched back in fear. Zaidee struggled to speak, the words getting stuck repeatedly, but Alex spoke for her, despite his shaking voice. "Who are you?"

"Greetings." Despite the word of welcome, the tone was icy cool without a trace of friendliness.

About eight cloaked creatures loomed before them. Simultaneously, they took off their hoods, moving as one. All white-haired, even if not all of them looked old, for the aging process had been frozen fifty years ago by the Abraxia stone. Their skins were deathly pale with a bizarre translucency and sickly yellowish tint. Their eyes were like that of any merfolk or human, although they seemed unusually piercing and bright. The teeth seemed unusually sharp, and the hands were the most unsettling of all - reptilian with wrinkled skin, ending in barb-like claws for nails. The tails were all varying shades of green, but they had no scales - more like a shark's skin. There were gills in their necks, long and frilly.

The leader, they were sure he was the leader, was particularly unsettling. The hair was as white as the rest, half of it pulled back by a band, with several strands hanging free. His cloak was the longest and purposely torn, sweeping far past the end of his tail. The eyes were a bright yellow, penetrating, like cold fire. His hands, similarly reptilian, had a large metal claw on the right thumb. A large burn, a violent red despite its age, on the same arm - but there was worse on the chest. Beginning from the sternum and running diagonally across the collarbone to the top of the left shoulder, there were three long, ragged scars, as if he'd been struck by a creature with three huge claws. Running parallel was another scar slicing through the cheek. His eyes burned with sinister intent.

"Aquademons." Zaidee managed to form the word.

"Lucky guess, my dear." Said the leader, in an unsettlingly cool voice. "But that is not our true name. The wretched sea king robbed us of our identity and named us something else. We're called Nightlings."

"What are you doing here?" Zaidee challenged despite her fear. The sea king... Triton, robbing them of their identity? What did he mean?

"To collect what's ours." The leader replied, smoothly. "And reclaim this ocean."

"What are you on about?" Alex demanded. Nightlings, whatever - 'Aquademon' was a much more suiting name. They looked demonic. "Who _are_ you?" He asked, again, for the second time. Zaidee was starting to realize who they were. She was reaching for her friend's hand.

"I'm Lysidus. My companions here -" Zaidee didn't let him finish. She seized Alex and they swam for their lives. "For Neptune's sake." Lysidus sighed. Suddenly all of the aquademons launched themselves forwards, surging after Zaidee and Alex. They powered through the water, in pursuit.

"Zaidee! What are they?" Alex cried, as if he hadn't heard Lysidus before.

"They're aquademons! The things Triton warned us about - look out!" She screamed, as a spear came flying through the water. She seized Alex and pulled his head down, and the spear narrowly missed, striking a boulder. Alex gasped; his ear was bleeding. The spear had caught him by the ear. "Keep going!" Zaidee shrieked. They ducked as another spear was thrown; the tips were metal, she realized now.

Zaidee looked over her shoulder, startled at how fast they were swimming. _There's no way we'll make it to safety in time!_ but they persevered nonetheless, fleeing back towards the outer ring of Atlantica. They approached the two columns they'd passed between, where they'd felt strange. It was there Zaidee thought she saw an ever so slight... shimmer, like energy. But she didn't think. She and Alex fled through once again, but something made them look back.

One aquademon flew out in front, a young male - so far ahead in fact. He swam like a blur, almost magically fast... but then he swam through the columns and something happened. They seized one another as they were blinded by a blazing gold light. There was a sound like an explosion, and then a wave of energy sent them flying. The aquademon screamed in agony.

 _"Brother!"_ The one named Corva shrieked.

Zaidee and Alex crashed to the sand hard, tumbling several times over and over before coming to a stop. Alex was closest, knocked out by the wave. Zaidee groaned and lifted her head in a daze. All that was left of the aquademon was a singed, smoking cloak and a dropped spear. She blinked, as she slowly realized; the strange feeling they'd witnessed, as though they'd passed a barrier. The aquademon streaking ahead had been disintegrated, the moment he'd passed it.

Delirious, Zaidee saw a great gold rippling, radiating up from where the aquademon had passed the barrier. An energy barrier, the gold rippling, the same colour as the trident's energy. She strained to look, saw it pass overhead, over the palace and then sinking over the edge of the opposite side. Like a dome. _A dome of energy. A protective barrier..._ Alex was unconscious, but Zaidee wasn't. She struggled to sit up, holding her head in pain.

Lysidus and the other aquademons came to a screeching halt. They stared in bewilderment, in shock, at how their companion had disintegrated. One of them, the one named Corva, started howling in grief at the loss of him; he had been her brother. Zaidee shockingly felt sympathy for her, despite the terrible stories she had been told about the aquademons.

"What magic is this?" Hissed Proximus, from where he was holding Corva back, stopping her from flinging herself at the energy barrier. Corva's shrieks ebbed away to sobs, but then her tear-filled eyes fixed on Zaidee, with pure malice. Her eyes started to glow.

Zaidee plunged into coldness at the glare. But then it turned to pain, slowly building, more and more searing. But the energy blast had already rendered her delirious, so within moments she lost consciousness before the pain could intensify. Corva broke her penetrating stare and her eyes stopped glowing as she wept into Proximus's chest.

Lysidus took a moment to murmur an apology to her, that of course she'd get revenge, before cautiously approaching the barrier. It rippled visibly before him. He plucked a stone and tossed it; nothing happened, it bounced through harmlessly as though the barrier wasn't there. He pieced it together. "A protective dome against our kind. How clever." He flooded with rage.

"He just took another of us." He turned to the group who shrunk back, afraid to approach the force field. "They killed Jabori! We've wasted in prison for fifty years, and after we escape, Jabori is murdered before he has the chance to live..." Lysidus turned to the grieving Corva. "Do not worry Corva, we will avenge him. Once we have the stone, we'll bring the barrier down. I'm starting to sense it's movement more clearly." The other aquademons gathered around.

"We are too. It's... that way." One of them pointed north. North; the same direction as Wundagore.

"Are we in agreement?" Lysidus turned to the rest, to ensure that Lokia's guess was correct, and they seemed to think so as well, nodding in unison. Lysidus looked across the energy barrier in frustration, at the unconscious forms of Zaidee and Alex. "Safe, for now." He muttered. "Come. We will mourn Jabori, and then we will follow the stone's signature." Signature. That was a new word, for the trace of energy the stone left behind.

With Proximus carrying a weeping Corva and some others gathered round them - surprisingly tender despite their fearsome appearances - the group followed Lysidus away from the protective wall. As soon as they left, the gold of the dome faded to the former subtle energy barrier. Alex and Zaidee lay there on the sand, still unconscious, having little recollection of what just happened.

In the distance, merfolk rushed across the sand, to see what had caused the great gold explosion. They crested the hill near the ring, but then they saw them, lying on the sand. "Zaidee!" Alana shrieked, throwing herself across the water. She came to Zaidee's side, pulling her daughter into her arms, trying to bring her round, while others tried to rouse Alex. "Zaidee, speak to me!" She looked at the spear and the singed cloak, bewildered. "What happened?" She looked at the other merfolk for answers.

"Ly..." they whipped their heads down. Zaidee muttered, eyes still closed. "Lysidus."

There was silence as this sank in. "...no. That's impossible..." Aquata said, looking pale. "She must be confused..."

Attina came forward. "Aquata. Look at that spear. Does it look a little familiar? Like a certain type you'd see in a book our mother showed us?" There was something very distinctive. It wasn't a spear - it was a glaive, like a spear, but with a long, curved blade at the end of the pole. It was a weapon highly associated with aquademons, as well as Nia, who had forged weapons inspired by that of Lysidus. Attina sank to Zaidee's side, turning her face gently toward hers. "Zaidee, did one of them pass the forcefield?"

"Forcefield? What are you on about?" Adella asked. Attina looked up, feeling the stare of all the other merfolk on her.

"Dad sent me a letter before he died. He told me he was going to make a protective barrier with the trident. It kills any aquademon who passes it, so he put it in place to protect us." This absorbed into the crowd, as they gathered around the glaive and the smoking cloak. "It was the last thing he ever did with it." Attina's voice was full of emotion.

"What if this was Lysidus?" Asked one, hopefully, looking at Zaidee. But she slowly shook her head.

"No." She mumbled, simply, before curling towards her mother, her body aching. Alana cradled her, looking up at Aquata, Adella and Attina. Alana had gone as white as snow, as her sisters gathered around.

"There's no way they'll find them, Alana. Zafrina and Melody will be fine..." Aquata tried to reassure her, fully confident, but for no reason. They didn't know that Lysidus and his companions could track the stone.

Zafrina, Melody, Finn and Bay were on their own.


	13. Return to Belixia

They'd been travelling for over a week, retracing their route. They'd passed Pramheda, a small crevice town that was home to a lot of octopids; they'd entered it last time to get Zafrina medicine for her neck injury. They were a few days travel from Wundagore, but the fastest route there was deeply unsettling.

Zafrina lay, restless, fighting to sleep. She tossed and turned under her cloak, her tail fins twitching. Eventually she sat up and threw it off herself in frustration. She looked at the lantern, but the light wasn't keeping her awake. It was their location. They were forced to take shelter in a cave after noticing some sharks who were too close for comfort. The main problem was that it was far enough into Belixia that they could see Nia's rock tower looming in the dark. It was making her uneasy.

They hadn't intended to sleep in Belixia, hoping to get through by the time it was dark, but the sharks hadn't left until nightfall. So they'd decided to sleep there for the night, albeit reluctantly. They'd all had trouble falling asleep, especially Bay, who wasn't fond of dark places so near to the place he'd gotten his scar. He'd stopped tossing and turning an hour ago, but Zafrina was still awake. She'd been struggling to fall asleep for two hours now. _I have to get out of here... I need..._ Zafrina didn't know.

Zafrina looked outside, anxious. _Well, I'm awake now..._ annoyed, she got up, picking up the lantern, not bothering to take her cloak, but then Melody caught her eye. She picked up the green cloak, covering Melody's sleeping form with it. Her cousin was rather slender and pale, so Zafrina always felt the urge to wrap her up in something warm. She left the cave, unaware that placing her cloak on Melody had woken her.

Melody stirred from where she lay. "Zafrina?" She murmured. She propped herself up on an elbow. Bay and Finn slept away, oblivious; Finn didn't seem to be talking in his sleep, considering where they were. She got up, realizing that she'd fallen asleep with her bag on her shoulder, but she didn't bother dropping it. She glanced at Finn and Bay once more to ensure they were asleep; both looked to be deeply so, turned away from one another, facing the dark walls.

Melody slipped out of the cave, a bead of light moving up ahead; she realized Zafrina had taken the lantern, making it easy for her to follow at a distance. _Where is she going?_ She briefly turned back to grab her staff, a decision she would thank later, before hurrying after the lantern and Zafrina.

Zafrina had an inner turmoil. She had become obsessed by what she'd done while under Nia's control. She was desperately trying to remember. Nia's goons could have made her do anything - harm, kidnap, kill? It was like she'd been asleep the whole time, with fragments of what she'd been doing occasionally breaking through the dark wall, like nightmares. She had three principal memories - hitting someone in the back of the head with the blunt end of a spear, trying to drown a shipwreck survivor, although thankfully Finn had been there to haul him back to the surface - and attacking Melody and Finn moments before she'd been freed from the spell.

Just what was she hoping to achieve? She held up the lantern, noticing some marks in a boulder. She ran her fingers along it, thinking it familiar. She looked up at Nia's cold and dark tower, at the looming, empty entrance. That had been where she'd nearly stuck a knife into Finn's neck, where later she'd found Bay, in a feverish state in a prison cell. She'd kissed him for the first time there, she remembered. Zafrina felt a little less terrible at that memory, of the joy of finding him alive. But then she recalled Otan nearly killing them minutes later and her thoughts turned dark again.

"Zafrina?" She jumped, and swung the lantern violently. There was a gasp as Melody thrust her staff forwards, blocking the lantern before it hit her.

"Sorry." Zafrina spluttered.

"Are you okay?" Melody asked, startled, slowly retracting her staff as though wary Zafrina would swing the lantern again.

"Am I okay? It's nice of you to ask..." Zafrina didn't think, on edge. Melody's eyes flashed.

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing." She snapped, without taking the hardness out of her tone. Melody narrowed her eyes.

"Right. What's wrong?" Melody asked, irritance creeping into her voice. It had been building for a while. She was tired, too, and Melody wasn't exactly happy or considerate when that happened. She leaned heavily on her staff, which annoyed Zafrina more.

"Alright. I'll tell you what's wrong." Zafrina didn't meet her eyes, but it had to come out. "When I was about to lose my grandfather - who's been in my life for almost twenty years - where were you? You hardly said a word to me."

"...what?"

"I had Bay, but nothing from my best friend. Not a word. Not one 'Are you okay'. Barely a glance even." Melody stared at her, feeling attacked.

"I was grieving too!" Melody protested. The light from the lantern was drawing attention, but neither mermaid noticed. "I thought Bay had it covered! Everyone copes with grief differently - I wasn't in the state of mind to ask you how you were feeling. I didn't want to see you upset! I thought you wanted to be on your own, anyway!"

"What made you think that?" Zafrina would have bristled if she possessed fur.

"Because you've never confided in me before!" Melody snapped. "You push away anyone who tries to make you feel better! I didn't think you wanted me asking about your feelings!"

"It would have been nice if you'd shown a bit of interest!" Their voices were growing steadily louder. Two dark shapes lurked in the background, but they still didn't notice.

"I cope with grief by withholding my emotion. So, maybe it made me seem a bit cold, but I'm here now! You could have told me sooner, you could have _said something_!" Melody cried, in exasperation. "What's happened to you?" The cousins stared at each other, stuck for words, afraid they'd say something else they'd regret. Zafrina looked at the seabed, miserably.

"This is horrible." Said Zafrina, frankly. "I'm sorry."

"...me too." Melody replied, after a moment. "Look, I'm sorry. Maybe I could have shown some more concern. But I didn't think you wanted me to." Zafrina looked at Melody, arms hanging loosely by her sides, feeling a bit less animosity towards her. "Maybe you and me should try to be better friends." Melody admitted. Zafrina nodded in agreement, before, overcome with emotion, she launched herself across the space and hugged Melody. Melody held Zafrina tightly, eyes closed, and for a moment that former closeness was there, as if they'd never fallen out. But then that moment ended.

Coldness descended over Zafrina as she sensed something. Zafrina slowly opened her eyes. For a long moment she was silent, but then she forced herself to speak. "Melody."

"Zafrina?" Melody felt Zafrina go cold. The blood had drained out of her cousin's face, and she didn't dare ask what was wrong. Melody extracted herself from Zafrina's arms, but Zafrina clung to her nonetheless as she turned round. Two sharks, deathly silent, knives for teeth, were swimming directly towards them. Their dead eyes fixed on the pair of them, their jaws slightly parted.

Zafrina thrust up the lantern, sweeping it in a great arc, hoping it would spook the sharks. But if anything they grew more excited. They started circling them, coming closer. Melody clung to her staff, but then there was a flash as the other one lunged forward. Zafrina barreled into Melody and she flew onto the floor. Melody looked up in time she see Zafrina swing the heavy lantern; there was a large crash as it collided with one of the sharks' heads. The shark was briefly stunned.

Zafrina seized Melody by the arm and pulled her off the sandbed, gripping the lantern in her other hand. "Melody, go!" Melody leapt off the sand, and the two mermaids tried to flee back the way they came, but the other shark, recovering from Zafrina's blow, blocked them.

"This way!" Melody hauled Zafrina back, and they rushed into Belixia. It was rare the sharks encountered this much food, so they followed in hot pursuit, snapping at their tails. Melody looked frantically for a way out, but there was no where to hide, except...

Zafrina was the one pulling Melody upwards, towards the gaping hole of Nia's tower. They didn't think about their memories regarding this place, desperate to hide. They rushed into the cave mouth, but they'd barely swam twenty feet before remembering. "...Triton sealed the entrance!" Melody hadn't been conscious to see it, but Zafrina had watched Triton seal the cave to ensure that Nia's magical potions and trinkets couldn't be accessed. They floated before a wall. The pair spun round, but it was too late - the two sharks had them trapped.

Melody and Zafrina briefly locked eyes, before Melody's knuckles went white as her grasp tightened. She swung her staff, and there was a brutal sound of impact as it hit one of the sharks' jaws. A tooth went flying, and the shark, with blood coming from it's mouth, abruptly turned and fled. Melody noticed lights flashing in the corner of her vision, and turned to see Zafrina attacking the remaining one, the lantern sending light flashing against the walls as the lantern flew through the air - but then it flew from her hand. Alarm coursed through Melody as she realized Zafrina was defenceless.

"Zafrina!" Melody shouted, drawing her arm back. Zafrina whipped round, as the staff came flying through the water. She caught it in both hands and went to hit the shark again. Melody tried to retrieve the lantern, but as the shark dodged the staff's arc, it struck her with it's tail. Melody went crashing to the cave floor, and Zafrina, seeing this, grew enraged.

"Come on, I dare you!" She goaded the creature, but then it seized her staff in its teeth. It refused to let to, and Zafrina tried to wrestle the staff free. Melody dove into her bag, praying Finn's knife was in it, but then the teardrop-shaped casket fell out, along with the stone itself. Melody stared at the yellow stone for a long moment. This brief moment was interrupted by a grunt, as the shark violently twisted its head and tossed the staff away, with Zafrina with it. There was a loud crash as she struck the cave wall.

Zafrina rose her head, dazed from where she had hit the rock. She froze, paralyzed briefly, as the shark loomed above her. The staff out of reach, Zafrina threw her arms up to cover her face. _Get away from her!_ This thought erupted in Melody's mind as she seized the stone.

She felt the jewel burn in her palm as she desperately felt the need to protect Zafrina. Melody threw up her hand, and suddenly she felt a sensation, like a surge of energy, coming from the jewel. A blast of light not unlike the trident's exploded from the stone. Bolts rippled across the skin as it struck the shark in the flank. Melody went cold as a dreadful sound came from it's jaws - the shark flailed before them, the water turning red. Zafrina rose on her elbows, in shock. Melody was breathing rapidly, fist clenched around the yellow jewel.


	14. Shackle

**_Hi, I don't normally ask for reviews, but I'd appreciate it if a few more people could leave their thoughts? It's just I'm a bit concerned that for the most part only one person (thank you, btw!) is leaving a review with each chapter despite there being a fair amount of views with each update. I'd just like a few more comments to let me know how I'm doing. Thank you, lovies._**

Melody felt the warmth from the jewel fade away. The tunnel was plunged back into darkness, briefly illuminated by the blaze of light, and now, the only light was the lantern, the glass cracked slightly from where Zafrina had struck one of the sharks with brutal force. Melody exhaled, the sound of her breath all there was, making Zafrina jolt.

Zafrina lay where she was, unmoved, spine pressed against the cave wall. Her eyes were fixed on Melody's hand. Melody blinked and shook her head, before swimming over the shark, and trying to help her cousin. She had to practically drag her off the floor. "Zafrina, are you..." She couldn't complete her sentence. Zafrina too was in a state of shock, but she quickly retracted from Melody, slowly going forwards. Zafrina approached the shark with caution, gripping Melody's staff in both hands, in case the shark rose again. But that didn't seem likely.

"Is it... dead?" Melody asked, feebly. It sounded like such a stupid question.

"I don't know." Zafrina said, eventually. Melody blinked, and moved forwards to Zafrina's side, uncertain.

"...maybe poke it?"

"...poke it?" Zafrina answered, after a long silence. She gave a twisted little laugh, in shock. "Look at it. Which bit of it would react first?"

The shark lay on it's side, jaws hanging open like an eerie upside down grin. It was like the rest of it it had been blown away, for the rest... Melody closed her eyes and turned away, sickened, feeling terrible, not wanting to look at the rest of what she had done. Her fingers trembled; the jewel almost fell to the floor, but then Zafrina had snatched it away and was fumbling to force it back into its casket.

"Come on, come on..." she was stammering, refusing to look at the unmoving shark, and she gave a little shriek when she accidentally swam through the red cloud blooming above the creature. Melody stared blankly at the damage she had caused, barely feeling Zafrina's iron grip on her arm as she was dragged away. The blast had sent the shark smashing into the caved-in entrance. The rocks used to seal the entrance had shattered, creating a gaping hole. Nia's tunnels faded into the darkness, and Melody thought she saw the glint of an abandoned sword, or one of the glaives Nia had forged after being inspired by Lysidus's weapon choice...

An hour later, Melody sat blankly in front of them. Finn crouched close to her face, sea green eyes fixed intently on hers. She stared into the rich depths of his pupils, noticing the lighter fleck in one of them. She was acutely aware of how sick she felt, remembering what she had done. Was this how Zafrina felt? "You used the stone?" Finn asked, again.

"I..." Melody tried, but ended up turning her face away. She was ashamed. "I didn't know what else to do." Finn looked towards Bay in uncertainty, but he was occupied with Zafrina, so he refocused on Melody.

"And when this light hit the shark... what happened, exactly?"

Melody looked at Finn for a long time, not wanting to say it. "...well. It didn't get up."

"More precisely, it didn't get up from the pile of ashes." Zafrina said something at last. She was leaning against a rock wall, knuckles pressed to her lips, her other hand latched onto Bay's wrist, eyes casted down. Bay was whispering to her, surveying her face. "Why do we still have it for?" Zafrina said it through clenched teeth, eyes burning. "It can do that. No wonder Lysidus is after it! You can obliterate anything and anyone you want!"

Unease spread throughout the cave at the truth of this statement. Melody looked at Zafrina, unblinking. "You're welcome." Melody replied, still stunned by what had happened. "What else could I do? That shark was about to swallow you." Zafrina looked away, stubbornly.

"And I'm grateful. But that thing is dangerous!"

"Look, calm down..." Bay murmured.

"I won't calm down!" Zafrina protested. "This thing in its shiny casket casing is heavily sought after. The only reason nobody's come to get it in Atlantica is because no-one one could get past the guards and no other maniac wanted to use it to exterminate merfolk. But as soon as they hear where Lysidus is going, they'll all figure out that it's been moved. We look suspicious, everyone knows a granddaughter of Triton when they see one - isn't it a bit of a coincidence, that as soon as he dies, two of them go on a trip? I guarantee someone will realize we have it!" She was out of breath. Bay offered her a drink from the cask, and she seized it.

"Look, Wundagore isn't far." Bay said, as Zafrina dropped it from her mouth, eyes closed. "But she's right. It is dangerous." He looked cautiously at Melody's bag, which held the casket, as though expecting it to explode or hiss like a sea snake. "Finn, you haven't said anything. What do you think?"

Finn had been unusually quiet. Maybe it was Belixia, or his concern for Melody. "We have to keep going. What else can we do with it, anyway? If Lysidus doesn't eventually track it down, we can't just leave it lying around for anyone to find. We have to find Circe..." Finn looked reluctant, however. He looked outside hatefully. "This whole place is cursed. Maybe we should just keep moving until we get out of Belixia, or at least so that thing fades from view." They followed his gaze, to the looming tower.

"Maybe someone else should carry the stone." Zafrina muttered.

"All I did was save your life!" Melody snapped. "It's not like I used it to summon the dead. You're blowing all of this out of proportion. Don't you trust me?" Melody couldn't believe Zafrina. "You could at least be grateful." Zafrina stubbornly kept her lips clamped shut. Finn looked worriedly at Bay.

"I think we're all in a state." Said Finn, uneasily. "Let's get out of here, and... maybe I'll carry the stone. Just to ease Zafrina's mind." Melody, seething slightly, pushed it into his hand. Despite her annoyance, she was relieved to be rid of it.

"Good idea. I've done enough damage..." Melody shot a look at Zafrina, who avoided her gaze.

"Mm." Was all Zafrina said, not retaliating. They began gathering their belongings. Finn had a firm grip on his bag, for he now carried the casket, but his other arm was looped around Melody under their cloaks.

"I didn't ask if you were alright." He whispered.

"I'm fine." She murmured. Feeling shattered, Melody leaned on him as they swam ahead of Zafrina and Bay. They followed, a slight distance behind, Bay carrying the lantern.

"Are you alright, Zafrina? Honestly?" Bay asked, worry plaguing his eyes. "You were nearly attacked by a great white..." He shook, trying not to imagine how close to serious harm Zafrina had come to. "You look... Zafrina?" She stiffened. What was that? In the distance, she noticed two figures. Cloaked in black, hand in hand, she felt their gazes. Long brown hair showed under one hood, and the ends of black hair under the other - where had she seen that combination before? She noticed the smaller figure had a shackle locked around one wrist.

"Who's that?" She asked, tightly.

"What?" Bay looked around. Zafrina whirled round to face him.

"Look! Over there -" But they were gone. Zafrina blinked. "I was so sure, they were right there..." Bay looked carefully at Zafrina. Her eyes had acquired a dream like quality, as if struggling to remember something, or a place she'd seen in a memory. He looked at the space her eyes were fixed on.

"I saw them before. But I can't remember where..." Zafrina's lips shook, she was desperately trying to search her memory.

"What did they look like?" But the image was swept from her mind.

"I didn't see their faces... but I'm not sticking around to find out..." Zafrina seized Bay by the hand and they hurried after Finn and Melody. The two hooded figures remerged, ominously watching the group of four hurry on in the direction of Wundagore.


	15. First impressions and purple sand

Ariel padded on the sand, Florian held on her hip. She felt the dying sunlight on her face, and for once, the golden light didn't remind her of her father's trident. It had been a few weeks, and she had slowly healed, even if she still missed him terribly. Florian was fascinated by the wonders of a seashell, baby blue eyes fixed on it as he held it close to his face. She turned out to sea, feeling the swash around her ankles, and gazed upon the ocean.

 _Where is my daughter?_ She wondered, worriedly. She suspected something more was at work; it was obvious Melody was keeping secrets. But unlike six years ago, when she was young and naive, Melody had grown and could take care of herself. Ariel trusted her, but if it weren't for Florian, she'd ask one of her sisters to fetch the trident so she could be a mermaid once more to help her.

But she'd doubt they'd let her. All she had was a wall of silence, anyway. Ariel was concerned; she'd hardly seen any merpeople, and if she did, they were constantly looking around, looking very nervous, as though on the lookout for something, or someone. Maybe she'd been seeing things, but one time, she could have sworn she'd seen something strange. Just a head poking out of the water, the hair long and white, with slightly translucent yellowish skin, but when she had blinked, it had disappeared.

Ariel didn't remember those particular stories her mother had told her and her sisters. She had been zoned out, impatiently waiting for stories about humans. She hadn't seen the haunted look in Athena's eyes, either, so the sight of the strange merperson didn't raise an alarm. She didn't know why her sisters weren't appearing, so she put it down to grief.

She knew nothing.

"Wait... we're here?" Said Zafrina. She was last to crest the hill, having gotten distracted. She was occupied with the uneasy thoughts thinking someone was following them. She felt as though they were, and the image of those two cloaked individuals back in Belixia had put her on edge... but maybe she was imagining things.

"Yep." Bay's hand found hers. Luckily nobody looked or sounded intimidated by the prospect. A pink haze stretched before them, like underwater fog. "This is the border... the fog is meant to ward away threats."

"Who created it?" Zafrina asked.

"Some seawitch..." Finn said, up ahead, before he and Melody disappeared into it. Zafrina approached the mist, holding Bay's hand like a lost little girl. She extended a hand into it, cautious; it was cold.

"I don't like this..." Zafrina murmured, and although Bay didn't say it, she could tell from his eyes that he agreed. They moved into the mist, and were immersed in coldness. It took her breath away, and Zafrina had to pull her cloak around herself tight. Bay huddled closer to her, and Zafrina wrapped her arm around him under their cloaks. They continued moving forward. "Melody?" Zafrina called out, uncertainly, for she couldn't see her or Finn.

"Keep going forwards!" She called up ahead. Zafrina and Bay continued moving blindly forwards, but then the mist started to thin. The pink haze was fading, and the cold seeped away, before they found themselves on the other side. They looked back at the pink mist in bewilderment.

"I don't ever want to do that again..." Bay said, still shivering.

"Agreed." Zafrina replied, relaxing her grip on her cloak. She turned towards Finn and Melody, who were looking ahead. Zafrina wondered what they were staring at, before realizing. "Wow. I thought it was going to be sparse wasteland."

The sand seemed to have acquired a purple tint, and it sparkled in places as though it were full of flecks of quartz. They were hovering at the top of a valley, in which there was a town below - it was bustling. They could hear voices already - and music? "Should we go around?" Melody sounded uncertain - who knew what they would find?

"..well. We should probably see what we're dealing with. The sort of people we'll see..." Zafrina was flooded with curiosity despite her uncertainty moments before. Finn glanced at Melody and Bay; Bay shrugged and although Melody offered nothing, she'd rather not go through the bustling town. It looked like the perfect place to get your bag stolen - and Finn had a particularly valuable trinket in his. With her expression not showing her concern however, Finn agreed with Zafrina.

"There won't be any harm in it," he said. "Let's see how the people are." Melody's stomach sank, but she didn't protest.

They headed down the slope, to the foot of the valley. Tall seaweed and sea flowers grew in random spots, and although they hadn't been to the surface in a while, they could tell from the nature of the flowers and the chill in the water that it was becoming more tundra-like. The seabed consisted of a patchwork of stones, the purple-tinted sand they'd observed, and also swirled clays of differing shades of lilac and greys.

It had a ruffish charm. Lots of thrown-together shacks, and Melody noticed - a lot of what they saw had once been a part of shipwrecks. Old bottles, lost artefacts, including instruments, art pieces and vases. They were clearly human, Melody noticed a Greek vase with the distinctive Greek-style art, and a painting of a beautiful woman. _My mother would love this,_ Melody thought. A lot of what she saw could be found in the remains of Ariel's old grotto. Planks and pieces of deck were used to construct the shacks, lashed together with ship ropes and curtained with sails.

It was here they saw the diversity. While there were plenty of mermaids and mermen, they noticed a few Ice People, the pale-skinned, tundra-adjusted merpeople from the Arctic kingdoms, and some octopids too, to Melody's discomfort.

"It's a market." Said Bay. Between the shacks, it was bustling. The crowd gathered around the shacks; prices were bellowed, bargains were being made.

 _"Five silver? Fine, four!"_

 _"How much is that?"_

 _"Sold!"_

 _"What do you mean, you've come to bargain? It's cheap enough!"_

There was so much going on. "Hold onto your bags." Bay said, as they entered the crowd. "Especially you!" Finn glanced at Bay in confusion, before remembering, fastening his grasp on his bag.

Melody siddled up on his side, so his bag was between them, and held onto his arm. She was rather petite; most crowd members were at least a head taller than her, so she was intimidated. She herself only came up to Finn's shoulder. As they moved through the crowd, they started to notice the particular people.

A lot had friendly or neutral faces, but there was the occasional one with a suspicious expression. Eyes casted down and flickering from side to side, as if on lookout. This particular one was heavily scarred, with a shackle around a wrist, with the remains of a chain still attached. He looked like a prison escapee. Melody watched him go up to a more isolated shack. A mermaid poked her head out. She slowed to watch this exchange, and Finn, feeling her stop, paused with her. "Mel?"

"Look." She said, and Finn followed her gaze. The dodgy-looking merman had his shackled wrist extended. The mermaid was elderly with deep-set wrinkles, and firm crow's feet, however her hair was in a long, thin white braid. The merman had a pleading expression. The mermaid shook her head and raised a hand, rubbing two fingertips together. Looking annoyed, the merman thrust some gold into her hand. She smiled, fingers closing firmly around the coins. She glanced at his wrist; the shackle, without her touching it, snapped and fell to the floor.

Melody looked at Finn in alarm, and he too looked uncomfortable. Nia used to do the opposite, snapping shackles _onto_ prisoners' wrists with her mind. He briefly thought he saw her in the corner of his eye, but she disappeared the moment he turned his head. "They have a lot of magic people here..." he reminded her. "And they don't mind showing it off -"

"You don't say..." Zafrina said, up ahead. Melody and Finn looked away from the seawitch, seeing Zafrina and Bay. There was jeering, and the sound of a struggle. Melody and Finn came up beside them, where the crowd had parted. Two young mermen were fighting. One was launching rocks, summoning them magically. The other disappeared in a puff of black smoke, suddenly manifesting out of thin air behind the one flinging rocks with his mind.

"You stole my potion! Don't deny it!" They were both seawizards, then.

"What even -" Melody stared at the scene, mortified. The crowd was cheering, although there was some effort to break it up.

"This is childish. They're fighting over a potion?" Zafrina shook her head in disbelief. "And this is just the first town we've gone into."


	16. A familiar face

Leaving the brawl and the market behind, they swam forwards into what was clearly a less rough part of town. The crowd was left behind, and only a few merfolk passed by occasionally. The path spread out and the valley thinned; they were moving into a wide crevice. This was where a lot of Wundagorians lived, with more shacks but also caves.

It was much more relaxed and less hectic. Merfolk lounged outside their homes, chatting with neighbours; it felt incredibly normal, despite the odd one swimming past, a pile of supplies magically floating alongside them. Finn ducked as a mermaid went past with a pile of books following her. "This is strange..." Finn said, not for the first time. He looked at Melody who kept close to his side.

"I know." Melody gave him a half-smile.

"It's reminding me too much of Nia..." Finn murmured. "The merman my grandmother spent a lot of time with came from Wundagore."

"How are your nightmares?" Melody asked, keeping her voice low so Zafrina and Bay didn't hear.

"They're not too bad... instead of them I've been -" Finn choked on his words, not wanting to tell her that he was seeing her lurking in the background.

"What were you going to say?"

"Nothing..."

"Didn't sound like nothing -" before they could start arguing about it, Finn was saved by a welcome distraction. Up ahead, colourful strands of seaweed and woven seaflowers were strung across the crevice sides. Tapestries from human shipwrecks and various other recovered trinkets dangled along them. Merfolk were hanging up more, looking incredibly excited.

"The festival's soon! Who are you taking to the dance?" A young merboy was saying to his friends.

"I wonder what this festival is..." Bay wondered aloud, before jumping in alarm as an octopid spun round. Zafrina stiffened and seemed to be considering swinging the lantern, but the face was friendly.

"You're clearly not locals, so as outsiders, you must experience it with us!" The octowoman beamed at them. "It's a celebration of our freedom and magic. There's dance, music... anyone's invited!" Melody had to keep telling herself that not all octopids were evil.

"Well, that's nice, but we are in a hurry..." Melody said. "Oh - do you know where Circe lives?"

"Who?" The octowoman looked dumbfounded. That wasn't the first time they'd got that answer. They had a vague understanding of where Circe was located, but they needed a clearer one - they'd been asking anyone who looked friendly whether they knew where Circe lived, but only got the same look of confusion every time.

"Never mind... thanks." They went on in disappointment.

"This might be harder than we anticipated." Zafrina said, flatly, to Bay.

"We can't give up hope -" Bay insisted, optimistically, but there was little belief in his voice. They were all drained, and the mood didn't help. The cheerful atmosphere around them didn't help in the slightest, and it was an unbelievable contrast.

"We'll never find her." Zafrina groaned, looking and sounding exhausted. Her mind wandered. They could be home right now, her and Bay in their artistic cave, preparing to go out at night for their nocturnal swims. Maybe they'd meet Finn and Melody for a double date, go to an underwater club and have a laugh. That seemed so long ago, a time when she had forgotten the horrors they'd all been through, before that trek through Belixia brought it all back...

Just as Zafrina thought about Belixia, something ahead caught Melody's attention, and she slowed to a stop. "What is it?" Finn asked, and noticing the halt.

"...I know him." Melody said. Finn followed her gaze in confusion, to a merman. He was buying some sort of seaberries from a stall set outside a shack. He had a sack slung over one shoulder, and a scar on one cheek, but he was handsome with bright blue eyes. The golden blonde hair was in a top knot, revealing the tattoo that crawled from the bottom of his neck to his ear. Finn was suddenly thrown back in a memory.

 _Finn was exhausted, but he was disturbed to see Narcissus on the brink of collapse. They'd been training for an hour and everyone, even the seemingly invincible Otan, was fighting to stay awake. It was fine for Nia, who had simply been watching the entire time and shouting at them to work harder. Narcissus had only just recovered from a dangerous illness, but he was still weak from it's effects. Nia had miraculously given him a few days of bedrest, which she normally didn't allow, but that hadn't stopped her from dragging him back to normal duties early. It was obvious he wasn't fit enough to start training again, let alone be out of bed._

 _Narcissus slumped to the ground, feebly raising a hand to show he surrendered. Ontari backed away, uncertain, the entirely mean streak not quite there yet. Nia glared at Narcissus._

 _"You've had enough time off, you should be stronger than that."_

 _"Mam, look at him! He's not well!" Ravenna, a mermaid who had a soft spot for Narcissus, moved forwards, but Nia's dangerous stare made her back away. Narcissus didn't move from where he was collapsed on the floor. Finn stared at Nia, but then her eyes found his. He didn't look away fast enough._

 _"Finnley, come here." Nia demanded. Finn glanced at Bay, who looked back in fear. Finm obliged, slowly coming forwards. Nia threw a spear his way, and his hands raised automatically to catch it. He blinked at his aunt. "Punish him." Nia ordered, heartlessly. Ravenna stared in horror but couldn't bring herself to move forwards._

 _"What?" Finn asked, weakly._

 _"You heard me. You're not deaf." Nia spat._ _Finn looked slowly at Narcissus who was barely conscious, face pale and gaunt. He didn't try to protect himself, slumped on the floor, trembling slightly from his illness. He was bruised; Ontari wasn't exactly easy on those she trained with. Finn hesitated, the spear still in hand. He looked at Nia, and his hands stopped shaking. Thinking very clearly, he threw the spear to the stone ground with a loud clatter that made everyone jump. Narcissisus blinked at Finn with blurry eyes. Ravenna released a shuddering exhale._

 _Finn went to look at Nia, but she had gone from where she was. Suddenly he felt a cold hand wrench his arm upwards. His mother's half-sister and murderer suddenly pressed a blade to his wrist._

Finn jolted when his bag brushed the scar on the inside of his forearm. He looked around, searching for somewhere to hide, but it was too late. Narcissuss had already seen him, and he came to an abrupt stop. "Finn?" Narcissus asked, incredulously, rapidly coming towards him. Finn froze, toungue stuck in his mouth, unsure what Narcissus would say. They hadn't left on good terms - Narcissus had been part of the group sent to follow Finn and the others on the first journey.

Finn protectively shielded Melody, who shrank back, suddenly recognizing Narcissus, her grip on her staff intensifying. But Narcissus didn't look hostile - he looked more shocked than anything. "What are you doing here?" Narcissus stared at him. Finn had no idea what to say. He couldn't exactly say he was here to give the most dangerous jewel in the world back to the seawitch who created it, and Finn had punched him once...

"We're traveling." He lied, but Narcissus didn't buy it. His eyebrows lifted.

"That's quite a journey, from Atlantica to here." He commented without giving his doubts away. His eyes fell on Melody, and it took him a few moments to recognize her. When he did, they widened and he looked away. He muttered something under his breath, uneasy, before trying to look as friendly as possible. "...so, you two are a thing now?"

"You could say that." Melody said, defensively. Narcissus noticed her tension and nerves immediately, and he had a look Melody rarely saw in Nia's henchmen; guilt, regret. There was a long silence.

"We were under orders." He said, uncomfortably. Finn could have laughed, at the things Narcissus and the group he was in, had done. They'd done countless atrocities, but despite this dark humour, he somewhat forgave Narcissus. He'd been one of the more sympathetic characters of Finn's upbringing, and he was terrified of Nia like everyone else. Finn had done things he'd regretted under her orders...

"Under orders?" Melody asked, in a high-pitched voice. "Your queen did almost kill me." Narcissus looked ashamed, and deeply uncomfortable, and something inside Finn told him that Narcissus wasn't a threat anymore, and his protective stance reduced.

"Sorry." He said, but it was obvious the apology wasn't accepted - Melody looked desperate to get away. Narcissus suddenly noticed Zafrina and Bay; they were yet to notice him, for they were stuck talking to an elderly merman who was excitedly advertising the upcoming festival. Bay's gaze was wandering as the merman went off on a tangent, as he searched for Finn and Melody - but of course, he saw Narcissus and shock overcame his face. He shook Zafrina's elbow and she twisted her head to see, and her face grew cold.

Bay made his way over, with Zafrina hanging far back. "...Narcissus?" The merman looked guiltily at Bay.

"Hey, man. How you doing?" Bay didn't know how to answer. Zafrina's grip on the heavy lantern was iron, her knuckles white, but she did not move.

"So... what are you doing here?" Finn didn't know what else there was to say. Bay wasn't saying anything, while Zafrina looked lost, in shock.

"Well, after Nia went crazy a lot of us decided to leave." Narcissus said, still looking guilty, trying to ignore the daggers Zafrina was staring. "I came here, just because it's closest and it seemed like the place where I wouldn't be judged. They don't ask questions here." Finn knew how that felt. Atlanteans didn't trust him and Bay even a year later.

"Well, it's good to see that you're alright, but we should be leaving..." At this very moment, a loud clang was heard from up ahead, like a bell of some sort. "What is that?" Melody asked, suspiciously. Narcissus looked afraid at the sound, and suddenly the relaxed atmosphere transformed to one of worry and panic. The cheerful merman who had been talking to Zafrina and Bay fled without a word, the decorations for the festivities were left in a pile and chatter silenced as merpeople retreated into their homes.

"That's a warning. The seawolves... Neptune, we have to hide!"

"The what?" Melody asked, in bewilderment, hoping Finn would know, but he didn't.

"They're like Wundagore's version of sharks, but much worse. We need to hide, right now."

"How worse?" Narcissus didn't answer.

"Come on, the seawolves sometimes enter this crevice, and the bell means they're arriving soon. You can shelter in my cave until it's safe." Finn and Melody listened, astounded, that Narcissus was willing to offer them shelter just like that, but obviously there was extreme reluctance for another reason: he'd tried to kill them once. Not through malice, through orders - but still...

"We can't trust you!" Melody protested. Narcissus almost looked annoyed. His voice hardened slightly.

"These people may be friendly but they don't trust strangers much. Would you rather hide with us -" Melody briefly wondered who 'us' was, but didn't think. "-or in a potential seawitch's lair?"

"He has a point." Said Bay, as the bell rung louder. The locals' happy atmosphere evaporated instantly, as the panic to get home intensified. The crevice was draining of people, caves had boards of shipwreck deck pulled across them, and the group began to realize that the danger was imminent. Maybe sheltering with Narcissus wasn't such a bad idea... and it wasn't like he was Otan or Ontari.

"Come on!" Narcissus insisted, impatiently. "It's up here." Uncertain but driven by the pressure of the bell, Melody, Finn and Bay started to move after him. But Zafrina stayed rooted to the spot, in shock, that her friends were even considering it. Seek shelter with someone who had chased and attacked them? Were they out of their minds?

"If you think I'm going with him, you can think again!" Zafrina exclaimed, a fire burning behind her eyes. Bay frantically looked back, having a terrible feeling: all he knew was that they had to hide. Now was not the time for stubbornness.

"Zafrina, let's go!"

"You must be joking! We can't trust him-" suddenly the crevice fell silent. Everyone had sealed themselves into their caves or shacks, and suddenly gloom overcame the place. Zafrina and Bay looked up as the darkness descended, blocking out the faint light that filtered down from the moon. A black cloud of hundreds of creatures - seawolves - passed overhead, with huge-spreading fins like wings, swimming in an oddly twisting manner. One passed metres above the crevice, and poked its head down, revealing its glowing yellow eyes. Zafrina and Bay looked up at it in silence. Bay looked at Zafrina, considering carrying her himself if she didn't change her mind.

"For goodness sake, fine!" She snapped.


	17. Narcissus and Ravenna

Narcissus sealed the cave, pushing a door of shipwreck planks across it. "This should be alright. They're not very intelligent creatures, and they'll pass." He went to move deeper into the tunnel, before realizing his guests hadn't moved. The four of them hovered stiffly by the entrance, particularly Zafrina, who looked as though she were about to start shamelessly hissing like a sea snake. Who could blame her, since Narcissus had been one of the merfolk to pin her down, while Nia casted her mind-control spell?

"I don't know how to make you trust me." Narcissus said, to no one in particular. He faced them, with that familiar look of anxiety Finn and Bay had back in Atlantica. "Don't worry. This place is roomy, you can stay in the other room if you want." He went into the tunnel. Finn looked uneasily at the others, regretting this decision.

"Well, we're here now. Come on." Bay was much more trusting, so he was first to go forwards. Zafrina looked gobsmacked, but still didn't say a word, as Melody and Finn followed. Finn was on edge as he followed Bay down the tunnel, which was lit by golden lanterns hanging from the stone ceiling. Suspense built, as the tunnel end approached, and the light grew softer, as Finn couldn't see what was ahead with Bay blocking his view.

"Guests? What sort of guests?" A familiar voice sounded from the room.

"Just trust me." Narcissus responded. The four emerged in the room, and halted in surprise. Narcissus turned round. A mermaid had her back to them, unaware that they had just come in. Narcissus softly cleared his throat, and she turned to look at him, before noticing the four. She turned, and it was here they recognized another familiar face.

Ravenna had short black hair and dark skin, the same as Zafrina's father Adonis. She had a dark red tail and large, brown eyes. She was curvy like they remembered, but what was different was the new softness in her eyes and the lack of a spear. Instead, there was a complete juxtaposition with the merbaby in her arms, sleeping away in a blanket. The baby was tiny, with a fuzzy hint of hair, and a teal coloured tail. Melody had only seen one merbaby; her aunt Arista had come to visit with her son Murphy, who was a toddler now, swimming on his own. This one, based on her size, was a few weeks or months old. _That was quick.._. It had only been a year.

Ravenna took a few moments to realize who it was. Then the softness in her eyes hardened, and she made an artificial smile. "Oh," she said. Ravenna's gaze went hostile, as she pulled her baby closer. "Narcissus, a moment of your time, please!"

"Ravie..." Narcissus protested, following her, leaving the four of them to float awkwardly. "I wasn't just going to let the seawolves eat them, was I?"

"I don't think we're exactly on good terms! I tossed a spear at one of them -" the sound of their arguing continued for a few minutes.

"Maybe we should go..." Melody said, uncomfortably, but suddenly Zafrina came back into the room. She had eagerly headed back towards the entrance as soon as Narcissus and Ravenna had left the room, seeing an opportunity to leave.

"Have you seen what's outside?" She asked, in a high-pitched voice. They followed her back to the boarded entrance, and peered through the gap. Melody went cold at what she saw; it was the same one Zafrina and Bay had seen. It was an enormous black thing, with shiny, scaly black skin, like something that had been rotting for a while in a pond. The fins were about a metre in length, like a pair of translucent fin-like wings, drifting lazily as it swam through the crevice. Like one of those deep sea creatures, lights trickled in lines throughout it's skin, like electricity bolts. Feelers and thin, translucent legs hung beneath the mouth, feeling about the floor.

The eyes glowed yellow, but despite the glow it appeared to have poor eyesight, regularly knocking into things and dislodging the hung decorations. The face was elongated, slightly crocodilian, with the long, heavily toothed snout. The tail flew behind it like a sail, drifting from side to side. It was nosing about, but it was too large to fit into any of the boarded up caves.

Reluctantly, but most definitely relieved to be in shelter, the group made their way back to the main room. Ravenna and the merbaby were no where in sight, but Narcissus emerged from what appeared to be their bedroom. "Sorry about Ravenna. She's protective -" Ravenna remerged, minus the baby, and there was a pull of the seaweed curtains. She murmured something through them.

"Mama'll be back." She crooned, before spinning round with all motherly kindness gone. She leaned against the wall, arms crossed, glaring at Narcissus, not convinced.

"Congratulations," said Bay, hoping to warm the atmosphere. Zafrina hovered stiffly behind him, the only one not sitting. Finn and Melody sat on the floor, hating the awkward atmosphere. "She got a name?" Ravenna narrowed her eyes, looking defensive.

"Wanda." She said, tightly, without any sign to show that she was thawing toward them. Narcissus made a smile that didn't part his lips, as Ravenna looked away stubbornly.

"Have you heard anything from anyone else?" Finn asked, and this time Ravenna looked towards them, with slight interest.

"Well, a lot of your Delorean allies captured the others." Narcissus glanced toward Ravenna, who pursed her lips. Melody filled with discomfort, and even Zafrina casted her eyes down, as she remembered seeing a battle-enraged Attina round up Nia's soldiers, even the ones who had fought reluctantly. "We got away, though. A lot of us had already left the battle, but those who didn't were mostly caught, but they were released after Attina realized they were no longer a threat. We've gotten letters from some, who used seawitches and wizards to track us down."

"Anyone we would know?" Finn asked, in interest. He'd been wondering about some of them, some who he'd genuinely considered to be a friend.

"Costil and Draco went down South, somewhere warm with tropical fish... Esme, Sarari, Xylan, they headed to the kingdom of Selenia. But... there's still someone being kept in Delorea. We've heard nothing from Ontari and Icarus." Finn grew uncomfortable at the mention of Ontari, but Icarus surprised him.

"We heard about Ontari." Melody spoke up for the first time, deciding to make an effort.

"What you didn't hear was that it turns out Ontari's rubbed off on Icarus. He became too dangerous to release."

"Icarus?" Bay asked, in surprise. "I thought he was nice..." Melody, Finn and Zafrina looked incredulously at him. "...I mean, when you compare him to the rest. He wasn't as bad as Otan and Ontari."

Narcissus leaned back in his seat. "I... I thought Icarus wasn't so bad either, but it turns out, he and Ontari have become an item in prison. Not much else to do, is there?"

"Subtle." Murmured Ravenna, a little amusement creeping into her voice, although she was still guarded.

"Yeah... well, there was a breakout recently. A few escaped, but we're not sure as to whether Ontari and Icarus were among them."

"Ontari could be out?" Finn asked, mortified. She hated him on par to how much Otan had hated him. In fact, he last remembered her being dragged away by Attina's forces, swearing revenge on him, as Nia had died. Zafrina's gaze filled with scorn; she had particular anger where Ontari was concerned. The most prominent parts of her gap-filled mind control memories featured Ontari.

"I wouldn't worry, if she was going to go anywhere, it wouldn't be here, unless she was after something. This place is too cold for her liking, she always liked the tropics. And it's not confirmed." Ravenna had relaxed enough to speak more than a single word, but she still didn't sit down. "...well, if you're going to be sleeping here, we have three rooms; ours, this one, and a spare through there." It still didn't sit well with her. Through the seaweed drapes, a high-pitched cry filtered through. "Coming, Wanda -" Ravenna immediately got up to attend to her daughter, and Narcissus disappeared after her. For a few minutes they waited, before realizing Narcissus and Ravenna were going to bed and expected them to do the same.

"Alright then. Who wants to sleep where -" Finn began, but Zafrina immediately started toward the spare room; the one furthest from both the entrance and Narcissus and Ravenna. Bay rose to follow her. "Take all the time in the world to decide, of course. No rush." He smirked despite his mild annoyance.

Finn and Melody found a softer spot on the sandy floor. Melody curled up beside him, her palm on his face. "You're sure we have to sleep here?"

"Would you rather double up with Bay and Zafrina? They like their sleep."

"Oh, sure. That's the only reason they like to sleep alone..." Melody started drifting away, her eyes slipping shut. Finn briefly wondered about his surroundings, eyeing the bedroom of Narcissus and Ravenna, but then he heard the faint echo of a lullaby, murmured by Ravenna - and Narcissus - to baby Wanda. Convinced, he nestled his forehead close to Melody's, before closing his eyes.


	18. Heart to heart

Unfortunately sleep did not come so easily for Zafrina, even after an hour. She perched on a rock in the dark of the spare room, having moved from where she had slept beside Bay, not wanting to wake him with her tossing and turning. Her elbows rested on her tail, her hands clasped and pressed against her lips. She wasn't even tired, but she wasn't even on edge anymore, somehow - so what could be keeping her awake? She looked towards Bay, who was rolled up in his grey cloak, his hand outstretched towards her as he slept, hair pooling in a halo about his face. The sight of him comforted her, but her eyes soon found his scar and she was reminded of her bad dream _. Stop it._

Zafrina stiffened as a shrill sound came through the wall, but then she realized it was only baby Wanda. She heard murmuring immediately after.

"Babe, it's your turn..."

"Narcis..."

"I had her all last night. We agreed we'd take turns every time she unsettled..." there was an annoyed muttering and then a chuckling, and then Wanda's cries faded away. A low voice floated through the cave, as Ravenna started singing softly to Wanda.

 _"Close your lids my love; tomorrow will soon come. Listen to my voice and know how much I love you..."_

Restless and unable to sit any longer, Zafrina got up and silently left the spare room. She looked about, familiarizing herself, before creeping into the main space. She swam over the sleeping forms of Melody and Finn, once again stopping to tuck the red cloak more tightly around Melody, before making her way outside to take a breath. She'd heard the same bell rung earlier, meaning the cordon had lifted. The shipwreck board had been moved aside, as had everyone else's; she was surprised to see how many people were outside now, despite it being so dark. Maybe they were making up for lost time?

Zafrina leaned against the wall, feeling the cool water outside. "Doesn't anyone sleep around here?" Her eyes snapped open and she swung her head to the right. Sitting on an old chair was Ravenna, with baby Wanda in her arms; Zafrina hadn't realized that Ravenna had gone outside to lull her baby back to sleep. But Ravenna's tone was a lot more friendly than earlier, after she'd slept on it. Zafrina herself felt less frosty.

"Oh, hi... didn't see you there." Zafrina made an effort to be less irate. Ravenna rocked Wanda slowly, looking at Zafrina with an odd look in her gaze. Her hair was half spilling out of a bun disturbed by sleep, a blanket pulled around herself.

"She doesn't like sleeping... I can't get her into a routine."

"Nocturnal, is she? My cousin Florian struggled to sleep. I can't remember what my aunt did to help him sleep... It might've been lavender, but we don't get that in this area..." This area, more precisely the entire ocean. Zafrina nervously waited for Ravenna to ask, but luckily she'd never heard enough about lavender to know it was a land flower. "I heard waterlilac's meant to be good."

"Mm." Ravenna nodded. Obviously it was still awkward.

"So, when did you get here, exactly?" It had been barely a year and Narcissus and Ravenna had a baby already. Ravenna looked down at Wanda's face. The baby had a skin tone similar to Zafrina's, with dainty, pretty features, reminding Zafrina of a doll.

"Well, like Narcissus said, we got here immediately after Nia died. We hid our relationship." They'd done a brilliant job of that. In all the instances Zafrina had seen Narcissus and Ravenna together before this point, they'd never given so much as a single longing look or stole a secret moment together.

"Why did you hide it?" She asked, curious.

"Because Nia discouraged - well, forbade - relationships between 'soldiers'." Ravenna said 'soldier' mockingly. "I realized that I was expecting not long after. Wanda came a bit early, too. I was worried she wouldn't make it, but she did. This quiet life is enough for us. I considered going to my birth kingdom, Talinya, but..."

"Really? My father comes from there." Talinya, as Melody referred to as 'Zafrina's exotic southern kingdom', was located in warm, shallow waters closer to the equator. Zafrina and her sisters went there almost every year, and it was Zafrina's hope that one day she would be able to take Bay, as well as Melody and Finn, there to see it. It was where Alana had met Adonis.

"How is it?" Ravenna asked, her voice shaking somewhat. Zafrina tilted her head to one side.

"You don't know? They're doing well... Costia's been ruling for two years, it's a much more open place. It's the safest place in the ocean, I'd say more than here. What stopped you from going back?" Ravenna's eyes filled with pain.

"Well, Nia's forces attacked it when I was six. They failed, obviously, but they took some kids - to raise to fight. I was one of them, and I haven't had the courage to go back." Zafrina filled with shock, this response being the last thing she had expected. She always thought that Nia's army had been home grown, but then, Nia wanted a bigger one. For goodness sake, she had started kidnapping adults and taking control of their minds to expand it.

"...I'm sorry."

Ravenna looked down at Wanda. "I'd rather not talk about it, but - I just thought it would help you understand. A lot of us had been taken from our families, we were raised brutally. I don't know how much Bay has told you, but as I remember, he was never the most open person in the world, so I assume not. We had nowhere to go, we were terrified. We were under orders, and I'm sorry about everything we did to you all."

Guilt flooded into Zafrina, slowly, and then all at once. She was so stubborn and judgemental. She gave nobody a chance. She looked at Ravenna, a memory stirring, as she remembered Adonis returning from his travels. He went to Talinya and back several times a year, having complicated family matters to attend to. One particular year when Zafrina was four, she remembered him returning and worriedly whispering to Alana, something about an attack where a lot of children had been taken. "I should be sorry, making you have to relive all that."

"Don't worry about it." Said Ravenna. Relive. Zafrina relived what she did everyday.

"I was wondering. You know Nia captured me and Bay?" Ravenna clearly did.

"I do." Bay had been collapsed in a cloud of blood, Zafrina had been spitting and cursing and screaming as Nia had proceeded to take control of her mind. Had Ravenna been one of the ones holding her back? Had Zafrina brutally shoved her away from her and made her hit the hard rock wall?

"I don't remember a lot from that time, when I was under her control. I get fragments, and I remember you were in some of them." Ravenna gave Zafrina a long look, obviously afraid. "Be honest with me. Did I hurt anyone? Did I..." Zafrina shook. "Did I kill someone?" That hadn't been what Ravenna had expected. She blinked.

"No. Ontari was in charge, but she never ordered you to kill anyone. I remember it all, I hated every moment, watching her and others order you about. You rounded up some prisoners, maybe a little forcefully, I'll be honest. But you never hurt - let alone killed - anyone."

The relief was cathartic. Something inside Zafrina broke, but it was a good break, as if all that guilt and regret shattered to pieces - still there, in shards, but not as tall and looming as before. "Thank you so much. You have no idea how relieved I am." Ravenna looked sympathetically at her.

"I had regrets too, but then I remembered I had no choice." That had always been a fleeting thought, when Zafrina thought about what she had done, but she'd been distracted by the feelings themselves, not why she did them. And it was true - none of what she'd done under that spell had been her decision, and she'd only attacked people to help her friends and to escape. Comforted, and feeling so much less anxious, Zafrina leaned against the wall and closed her eyes.

"You didn't." _I didn't._ Wanda had woken up, and was wriggling in Ravenna's arms, blinking about. Zafrina's heart melted, as it always did, around children. "She's beautiful. Maybe one day you and Narcissus could take her to see Talinya."

"One day." Ravenna smiled, before rising. "I should get back to bed. It's Narcissus's turn to get her to sleep. Good night."

"Thank you for easing my mind." Zafrina said, and Ravenna smiled at her again, before disappearing into the cave. Zafrina covered her mouth, blinking rapidly, up at the water ceiling, her relief all throughout her being. Little did she know Ravenna's words would soon be an important part of Zafrina's life.


	19. Ominous

Lysidus stared into space, eyes glazed with memory as he intensely searched it. He was thinking a lot recently. His mind had warped in the ten years he'd spent rotting in that prison - that he was aware of.

Triton had had several magical allies in the war, but there was one who had been kinder. _"I'll put them to sleep, so when they're released, it'll be as though they didn't experience prison. They'll go mad if they're trapped in that place..."_ what she hadn't realized was that none of them were intended to be released. Lysidus and the last aquademons had been in a sleeping spell for fourty years, but when the seawitch had died, so had her spell. So that had meant they'd suffered in prison for ten. But it felt like fifty to him.

Lysidus could barely remember it in the chaos. A guard, shrieking 'breach!' over and over again, before Lysidus had flung a knife into his back. In the corner, several of his nightlings had shrank into the corner in fear, before he'd shouted at them to get a move on, for this was their last chance. He'd emerged, the first light in ten years burning his eyes, as his fellow nightclubs followed. Some had started crowing in triumph, whilst others simply touched the seaweed and the sand, eyes closed in bliss, for they'd been engulfed in stone for a decade.

Lysidus paused around the corner, hearing weeping. Was Corva still grieving over the loss of her brother? Although he genuinely cared about her - fifty years in the same prison had made the group of surviving aquademons like family - he couldn't help but feel annoyed. _It's been a week, get over it..._ but then he realized it wasn't Corva. He peered around the corner.

The youngest of them at twenty two, Rhapsody's aging had been frozen with the rest of them. Curiously, she had her head in her hands; she was crying. Her friend, Lokia, was attempting to comfort her. "Rhapsody, I know it's hard..."

"Don't you understand? I don't want to live like this."

"And you think I do?" Lokia replied, painfully. "We don't have a choice..."

"There must be a way... to revoke it... I don't want to live for _all time..."_ Suddenly Rhapsody and Lokia jolted and looked up, noticing Lysidus.

"Am I interrupting?" He asked, mildly, somewhat concerned by how they seemed to shrink away from him. Rhapsody and Lokia looked at one another. Without a word, they got up and slipped away, to join the others, moving extremely quickly. Lysidus didn't follow, aware that they were afraid of him.

The prison escape had been... messy, to say the least. Fifty years of bottled rage had fueled Lysidus as he had fought viciously against the guards feebly trying to keep them locked up. The younger members of the group, such as Rhapsody and Lokia were... afraid of him, almost, after seeing the atrocity he'd unleashed onto the guards who were only doing their job.

He felt no remorse. The guards had been merpeople, and Lysidus didn't see them as worthy to spare. He was concerned, that some of them didn't agree with his plan... some, such as Rhapsody and Lokia, had wanted to go their seperate ways and enjoy their newfound freedom. Lysidus had insisted, very insistently, to say the least, that they stay, at least until they had the stone back in their possession and the ocean was theirs once more.

Yes, they were a family. But the foundations were weak. The connection wasn't true care or kindness, but for survival, solely because they were the same species.

Lysidus jolted and went after Rhapsody and Lokia, where they had joined the others. "Let's get moving. I'm sensing it..." Corva, Proximus and the others immediately rose, picking up their weapons and striving after him. Rhapsody and Lokia followed at the back, holding hands, heads down.

 _Meanwhile_

"Thanks for helping me collect this." Narcissus had a bag swung over one shoulder, while Finn carried the other. Finn had woken to see Narcissus up early; he had a few errands in the early morning, and Finn had offered his help. While the awkwardness was undeniable still, there was trust now.

"Don't worry about it." Finn was happy to help; he felt oddly comfortable around someone he'd had bad blood with. He'd been thinking over it, imagining an alternative scenario if it had been Otan they'd run into. It would certainly not be this jolly. Otan was the sort of merman who would pretend there was no hard feelings, but then he'd stab Finn when his back was turned. It wasn't like Otan had never tried to do that before, and Finn was proud of the permanent crook he'd placed in Otan's nose when he'd broken it one time.

They continued in comfortable silence, and Finn wondered back. He'd left Melody a note telling her where he was going in case she woke up and assumed the worst, although they hadn't been gone long and they were on their way back. Finn and Narcissus had been having an incredibly normal conversation all the way, and it made him wonder how the other former Belixians were. It was good to hear that Costil and Draco had gone somewhere tropical. Finn and Melody had discussed the prospect of travelling, but these plans had been forgotten with the arrival of Florian, for Melody understandably wanted to bond with her new brother.

Maybe after all this, they could travel; maybe visit Melody's aunts, stop by Antarctica to visit Tip and Dash, apparently the Pacific was pretty spectacular. Zafrina was always saying she wanted to show them her home land of Tatylin. Finn thought wistfully about seeing the world, but for now that would have to wait. It occurred to him; after this, where were they going? They'd promised their hosts they'd leave in the morning, but they didn't know where they were going... Triton's directions were rather vague.

Nobody knew where they'd find Circe, but he should ask Narcissus anyway. "I've been meaning to ask you and Ravenna. Do you know of someone named Circe?" Finn didn't expect Narcissus to know, for everyone they'd asked hadn't. But Narcissus had come to a direct stop. He turned around, arms hanging loosely by his sides, a strange look in his eyes.

"The Goddess of magic?" Narcissus asked, looking uneasy. "Why do you want to know?" It was as if Finn had asked about a terrible secret.

"I, uh - I heard some merfolk discussing her. I was just wondering..." he was a terrible liar and Narcissus could tell.

"Rubbish." He said, bluntly. "Why are you here? Be honest." Narcissus dropped the bag and gave him a searching look. "And don't tell me it's a spot of sight seeing. I know there's magic people here and it's quite pretty but something tells me that you wouldn't dare go back near Belixia if you didn't have to. You suffered there..."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Come on, Finn. You're as damaged as everyone else who escaped that nightmare."

 _Damaged._ Finn didn't want to admit it, but he was indeed damaged. His illusions of Nia, his night terrors, the scar on his ribcage and the one hidden inside his wrist, the tattoos on his biceps which were more like a brand...

"I mean, I kept seeing that witch lurking in the corner of my eye for months and -" Finn's eyes flashed. Narcissus saw Nia too? But Narcissus continued on before he could ask. _"_ She disappeared eventually though. And Ravenna is begging me that we don't tell Wanda any of it when she grows up. Like I would! Hey sweetheart, your mom and dad helped a sea witch with her mind control schemes and plot to conquer the ocean!"

"My point is you wouldn't ever touch that place again if you didn't have to. Those who go looking for Circe are looking for trouble. So I'll ask again, why are you really here, and why are you asking for Circe? I'm not surprised everyone pretended not to have heard of her, they were probably doing you a favour."

"We have something of hers... Triton sent us to give it back." _Don't ask what is..._ would Narcissus put two and two together? Maybe he did, maybe he pretended not to. But Narcissus was undoubtedly suspicious, blue eyes narrowed.

"Well, to anyone else, I'd say get out of here. But... I remember what you did, standing up to Nia like that. I'm grateful." Finn took a moment, before realizing Narcissus was referencing the time he'd refused to attack him when he'd been on the verge of collapse. He looked at Narcissus, eyes pleading, for guidance. Narcissus seemed to hesitate, before complying reluctantly. "She lives north. You see that underwater mountain in the distance?"

Finn turned; a vague, blurry peak, in the very far distance. His heart sank at how far it was. "Yeah?"

"You swim straight on from there, and it starts to grow more volcanic within a few days."

 _"Volcanic?"_

"Obviously it's not too dangerous, the lava cools quickly and it doesn't get far. There's just the odd tremor, a few glowing crevices. As long as you keep moving through the volcanic area, straight on, you'll know when you see her lair. The sand turns black, suitably."

"What do you mean by that?" Finn didn't understand what was meant by 'suitably'.

"It's dangerous there. That witch, enchantress, whatever you want to call her, she's a murderer." _A murderer?_ The way Triton had put it, Circe had sounded like a hero, ending the war and promising to destroy the stone... Finn's skin started to crawl. Triton hadn't told them everything. "She made her home there years ago in a land filled with monsters and strange people. No one's seen her since, but she made a few spells to ensure she's hard to find. You have to watch yourself."

"You talk about her as if she doesn't want to be found..."

"There's some pretty ugly stories out there about those who go looking for her. She made that ridiculously powerful stone afterall." Finn stopped and looked at Narcissus. At Finn's strangely fearful look, he clarified. "You know, the Abraxia stone. The thing everyone's talking about."

"...What?"

"Apparently there was a bit of drama in Belixia - some traveller said he saw this blinding energy blast, and when he went to investigate, a shark had been blown to bits..." Narcissus didn't notice Finn's shocked expression, but at least it made him forget about Circe. "It was a really distinctive, yellow beam that the old merfolk seem to remember from years ago... Everyone's speculating that the stone is on the move, and there's some bragging how they'll find it. It's a load of rubbish if you ask me. Everybody knows it was destroyed..."

 _It wasn't!_

Finn turned away, skin burning at this revelation. So, not only was Lysidus after it, but others were, now? And Triton had never mention anything about the land itself being dangerous... nor that Circe was a murderer. It sounded as though she didn't want to be found... He followed Narcissus in silence, wishing a hole would open and swallow him, as they entered the cave.

Finn was surprised by what he saw. Zafrina was holding, not to mention cooing over baby Wanda for Ravenna while she mended something, and Bay was naturally looking at Zafrina in complete surprise. "Oh, she's making me broody." Zafrina crooned. "Mel, can I borrow your locket?" Melody tossed it over, and Zafrina showed Wanda the hidden secret within the locket. The tune played and the glowing image of Atlantica emerged - Ravenna looked up from her task in a mixture of awe and interest. Wanda stared at the image in fascination, and Melody looked on; Wanda looked at her locket with the same delight as Florian.

Melody was finishing breakfast, some seafruit generously offered by Ravenna, two empty plates showing Zafrina and Bay had too. Finn dropped the bag next to where Narcissus had dropped his. He looked quizically at Bay who gave him a 'what is happening?' look regarding Zafrina. Finn went over to Melody who pushed a plate towards him. She lifted a piece of fruit to bite it, but then she stopped, frowning.

"You look pale." Finn didn't know whether to tell her about the fact that the stone was being sought after and that they faced a trek through an even more dangerous plave than they'd first thought, so he said nothing, pretending not to hear. But Melody knew he had heard. After Finn had struggled through his food, he saw Bay and Zafrina making eye contact, and then attempting to get the attention of him and Melody. _Time to go..._

Ten minutes later, they gathered outside the crevice cave, which was now lit with the daylight from the sun above the surface.

"Thank you so much." Bay shook Narcissus's free hand, for his other was holding Wanda.

"Anytime." Narcissus smiled and nodded. Ravenna floated next to him, one hand partially on Narcissus' shoulder, and the rest on Wanda's tiny hand which rested on her father as she slept. She and Zafrina seemed to giving each other looks, and when they shook hands, Zafrina looked more content than Bay had seen her in a while. He heard a 'thank you.' Finn looked over his shoulder as they went on their way.

Narcissus looked after him, a silent warning in his eyes; be careful of Circe, it said. Finn looked back, suddenly realizing it could be the last time they'd see each other. He filled with sadness, for some reason, despite their past animosity.

"That was actually pleasant." Said Zafrina, after they'd swam away and Ravenna and Narcissus had swam back into their cave. Bay looked at her, stunned.

"I don't understand you sometimes." Bay said, in awe. Zafrina looked up at him, before realizing he meant Ravenna. "You went in there ready to fight the pair of them and now it's like Ravenna is your best friend. What changed?"

"We had a lot in common." Zafrina leaned up to his ear. "I'll tell you more when we're alone." For some reason, Zafrina didn't want to tell Melody, just Bay, at least for now.

"Well, I say we're all entitled to a bit of fun." Finn turned around, hoping to shake off his worry about the possibility of plots going on, seeking to track down the stone. "This festival, tonight... shall we go? Narcissus said the main event's in the capital of Wundagore, which isn't far. It's on our way there..."

"What about the stone?" Melody worried aloud. Finn refrained from saying 'ssh', but he nervously looked around in case someone heard. "It sounds like the perfect place for pickpockets..."

"I'm sure we'll figure something out -" Finn began.

"You're such a worrier, Mel. You need to loosen up a bit." Zafrina said, sounding much more like herself than she had in a while. "I say we go. Come on, we may as well. We haven't had a good night out since grandfather..." She paused, shocked that she'd only just remembered. She exhaled slowly before continuing. "He wouldn't want us to mourn... come on, Melody."


	20. Dance with me

_A few hours later_

Ravenna turned around, a shell in her hands; but then it slipped through her fingers, falling to the floor with a loud smash. "Ravenna? Are you -" Narcissus emerged from the bedroom where they'd just got Wanda down for the night. But then he saw who floated in the main room entrance, and he froze as well, started to shake. "You."

"It's been a while." Said the female voice. "How've you been -" before she could finish, Ravenna had seized something hidden behind a wooden shipwreck board, which Melody, Zafrina, Finn and Bay hadn't noticed. A gold-tipped spear came flying out from hiding, and she brandished it, eyes glistening in the dark. The spear was still engraved with the Belixia kingdom emblem, although there had been an attempt to scratch it out.

"Get out of my home." Ravenna spat.

"That's not nice." The male one murmured, in the voice they remembered. But this time it was cold. "Old comrades, and suddenly we're your worst enemy?"

"Comrades? Ha! You talk as if we were _equal!"_ Narcissus stared daggers, hovering supportively at Ravenna's side. "You have the nerve, the audacity, to just strut in here as if you own the place, to say 'How've you been'?" The two figures exchanged a look that was unreadable.

"It's not an unusual greeting."

"Stop dodging the question. How did you find us?" Narcissus demanded.

"There's a lot of magic people around here. It didn't take a lot of coins to find out where we could find you." The mermaid turned a pendant around her neck, twirling the clear glass in her hands, a tiny bottle filled with purple sand. Narcissus frowned at it; it looked like something Nia had once brought back from a failed conquering. The mermaid had a bow and arrows hidden under her cloak, but Ravenna and Narcissus saw it. The weapon the merman held, it was, like the weapons of the aquademons, a glaive, a spear with a metal blade.

"We're not interested in a word you have to say." Ravenna snapped. "Our baby is asleep, you'll wake her. So get out."

"We were just wondering if you'd heard about the Abraxia stone."

"Why would we?" Narcissus asked, defensively. Then he thought for a moment. _Finn. He asked for Circe, the witch who made it..._ His mind raced with speculation. Finn had been acting peculiar, they all had; Melody constantly had eyes on Finn's bag. What if...

"Don't know. We heard a few rumours. We might have an idea of who has it... we noticed you hanging out with one of them, Narcissus. Where were they headed?" This was serious. They were in trouble.

"I don't know." Narcissus said, not wanting to betray Finn.

"Liar." Suddenly the merman pointed his glaive. "A baby, did you have? That's lovely. I'm sure you'd love to watch her grow up. You ought to keep an eye on her. Who knows what can happen when you're asleep... anything could happen to her." Narcissus and Ravenna froze. The spear Ravenna brandished started to tremble as she shook, raw emotion in her eyes, as she realized what they were suggesting. Narcissus moved back, so he shielded the bedroom, eyes burning, an animalistic fire.

"You wouldn't." There was a long, terrible silence. But then Ravenna, thinking only of her baby, spoke in a desperate voice.

"They're headed north. They mentioned going to the festival." Ravenna whispered. "Now please. You have what you wanted. Get out, and don't come near us again." For a moment, it looked as though the intruders weren't going anywhere. They took their time, looking around the room, before turning away and leaving in the most casual manner. Ravenna flung the spear, but it missed and bounced off the wall. Narcissus leaned against the wall, hand covering his face.

 _I'm so sorry, Finn._

 _Meanwhile_

The group entered the bustling city. It was like the market multiplied by ten, with shacks and actual shipwrecks forming the infrastructure. Melody normally shivered at the sight of the shipwreck, which would normally be eerily quiet and spooky to behold. Now it was lit up by lanterns and decorated with more of the pink seaweed and human tapestries they'd seen hung in the crevice.

Magic was going on all around them. A mermaid performing actual _magic_ tricks in a circle of onlookers, asked for a volunteer. The young octopid who went forward was taken by the hand and disappeared in a puff of blue smoke, to appear twenty metres away on top of a rock column above the crowd. They looked up in amazement and applauded while the mermaid waved with an arm wrapped around the surprised volunteer. There were decorations being casually hung with the wave of a hand and a turn of a thought, and as they had in the market, they occasionally had to duck out of the way as a heap of decorations passed magically overhead.

Zafrina and Bay were filled with excitement at the atmosphere. "It's just so free!" Zafrina exclaimed. Even the people seemed more friendly, with less of the shifty individuals they'd observed in the initial marketplace. There was a dance going on in the centre of this area, with loud, fast-paced music, and a band of a fish and octopi playing various instruments. There was joyous laughter from those who were dancing. "Come on, Bay!" Zafrina excitedly took his hand, and pulled him towards the dance. Bay happily followed, when before he probably wouldn't because of his scar.

"-we'll meet you at the -" Melody and Finn heard Bay shout, but it was drowned by the music. Melody took Finn's hand, unsure, feeling like a lost child with the overwhelming noise and movement. Finn immediately sensed her discomfort.

"We'll just stick close by. Let's have a look around." Finn and Melody headed toward the quieter part of the festival, not really into the loud party scene. The loud music faded into the background, replaced by something quieter and more slow. They slowed, finding themselves in a sparser clearing with only about three other dancing couples and a harp playing by itself. After all they'd seen, this was beginning to look and feel normal. Finn came to a stop.

"Melody?"

"Mm?"

"Dance with me?"

"I..." Melody had never danced with Finn before. They'd never been in a place they'd dance in, and it had never crossed their minds, to dance. Zafrina and Bay, in their alone time, often did, on one of their nocturnal swims. Melody had never felt the urge to, for most of the occasions in her human life where she'd danced had ended in disaster. There was her twelve birthday party of course, the night she had run away; and her last human birthday, her seventeenth where she'd ended up flying head-first into a bowl of punch. Although to be fair, she had been tripped intentionally by a prince trying to be funny. "I can't dance. I couldn't when I had legs, so..."

"That doesn't mean you can't now. Come on..." Finn said, in a playful voice, turning to face her and dropping his bag to the ground. Melody initially resisted, a little embarrassed, but she couldn't help but laugh as he raised both hands, as if dancing with someone invisible.

"Fine." Melody sighed, taking his hand in one and awkwardly placing the other on his shoulder, while his other was on her waist. They swayed in the water, in a slow, lazy circle as the other couples eventually left to rejoin the main party, so they were alone with the magically playing harp. Initially she felt unnatural and ridiculous, but then she sank into the rhythm and it felt easy, especially now that they were alone. They swayed in silence, very close to one another. Melody eventually felt the corner of her mouth raise into a smile, as she looked into his eyes, which had acquired a soft and translucent quality as they met hers. He smiled back.

"Still hate me?"

"Well," Melody smirked. "I wouldn't say I _like_ you right now."

"So, you love me right now, instead?" Finn had forgotten his light-hearted side recently, with all the grief, the danger and the tensions.

"Maybe." She turned under his arm, before twirling back to him, her arms looping around his neck. It felt much more natural now, herself cradled against his body. She suddenly felt normal, as if they were home, and they weren't somewhere dangerous. "So, what did you and Narcissus get up to when you were out?"

"I helped him with a few errands. And I asked him for directions to Circe..." Circe, an apparent murderer, the volcanic lands still to come, with their dark creatures... He hadn't the heart to say it now, here in this tender moment. He briefly looked away before smiling at her. "I'll tell you more tomorrow, but I know roughly where we're going."

"Good." She murmured. Melody leaned against him with closed eyes, feeling, hearing his heart under her ear. A heartbeat was one of the most peaceful sounds in the world. "What do we do, after this is over?" She looked up at him, blue eyes on his sea-green ones. The first thing she'd noticed about him when they had met was his eyes.

"I don't know. Maybe we could see the world. There's so many different oceans, and they're all so different..." Finn paused to brush the hair out of her eyes. "If that was what you wanted."

"I'd like that." Melody said, resting her cheek on his chest. "I just want this to end. I feel so unsafe, every moment. I keep fearing it's one of the last..." Finn listened, as he again remembered what Narcissus had warned him about. He rushed to reassure her.

"Don't worry. No one knows we have it... and Lysidus is miles away. He won't find us." Melody was reminded of this subject; she'd forgotten that Lysidus was after it, but something had been bothering her ever since Triton had told the story.

"Something bothered me about that story grandfather told. It's been on my mind ever since... it was almost like there was something he was holding back... something he wasn't telling us."

"You think he didn't tell us the whole story?" A frown furrowed Finn's brow.

"I don't know. I just think there's a lot that doesn't add up. I mean... why were all the aquademons just disappearing? There had to be a reason." Melody was filled with unease, worsened by the increasing concern on Finn's face, as he too thought about it.

"Let's not think about it right now." Finn suggested, lifting her chin with his hand. "I'd rather be thinking about something else..." Melody felt his eyes on her lips, and her own moved to his. She leaned forwards, but then the moment was broken, as a commotion made them look up. Smashing, shouting, coming from the main dance. And was that...

"Was that Zafrina's voice?" Melody asked, before she and Finn stared at each other. They tore apart and rushed back toward where they'd left Zafrina and Bay. They were greeted by chaos - people going flying, punches thrown. A group of dark-clad merfolk tore through the crowd, seizing bags and anything of value. They scanned the crowd for Zafrina and Bay, finding them at the centre of it.

"Let me borrow this!" Bay seized a guitar off an octopus, before raising it over his head and swinging it at a large merman who was attempting to wrestle a bag off an elderly mermaid. There was a heavy crash and the sound of the strings as it knocked him in the side, and he spun round to face who had hit him. Bay's face dropped as he realized he wasn't the sort to turn and flee; the merman reached into his cloak, and there was a brief glint.

But then something swung through the air and caught him on the head, sent him flying. The merman looked up in anger, preparing to retaliate. Zafrina had Melody's staff in hand, and she breathed heavily, protectively cast between him and Bay. Melody briefly wondered where she'd got it from, before realizing Zafrina had recently attached a shoulder strap to it for easier carrying.

"You touch, you die." Zafrina warned, and the merman briefly considered fighting, before he got up and fled. The raid had seemingly ended, for the dark-clad assailants had disappeared and people were picking themselves off the floor. Finn and Melody came hurrying through the crowd.

"What happened?" Finn asked, in shock. Zafrina made an exasperated sound.

"What does it look like? That big guy and his merry men just tried to rob everyone!" She lifted her wrist and pushed one of her gold bangles aside. "One of them tried to take these off my wrist!" The bangle had been pulled with such force it had left a temporary dent in her skin and the metal seemed slightly warped. Melody looked at it in concern, but at least Zafrina was alright, for she was now trying to bend the bangle to its original shape. But Bay was staring at Finn.

"Finn, where's your bag?" For a moment Finn thought he would have a heart attack, but then he remembered dropping it on the floor so he could dance with Melody.

"I left it over that hill, sorry." At this, Zafrina seemed to snap.

"I hate this! All this worry for nothing!" Zafrina cried out, in annoyance. "For Neptune's sake, let's get out of here, before we get mugged!" She angrily left the crowd.

"Zafrina -" Melody pleaded, but her cousin was gone.

"Don't worry, I'll go after her. Just get the bag." Bay sounded tired and annoyed as he gave the half-broken guitar back to it's owner. "Sorry about your guitar."

"Sure, I give it on loan constantly..." The octopus replied, in annoyance. Bay hastily gave him some coins to repair it, before rushing after his lover.

Zafrina swam furiously out of the capital to the darker outskirts of rolling underwater hills. Just when they'd gotten a chance to relax, to enjoy themselves and actually feel normal, a group of idiots came charging in to ruin the night. Dancing with Bay, she'd actually remembered what normality felt like...

"Go away."

"Zafrina..."

" _Please_ , go away. I want to be on my own." She said, pushing Bay away from her.

"Don't shut me out! Just let me help you -" They started to argue, unaware that they were being watched. Having kept an eye on them throughout the dance, they were free to approach now, with nowhere to hide, no one to help. Two cloaked figures, the same ones who had threatened Ravenna and Narcissus mere hours before. They slowly approached, making hand signals to each other. The moonlight filtered down from above, making a metal blade glisten, as they moved closer.

Melody left Finn to retrieve the bag, and went after Zafrina and Bay, knowing she had a lot to make up for. She felt so responsible, for everything - it was only right she went to Zafrina. But where were they? She glanced back at the city which seemed to have gotten back to normal, the music and the laughter resumed, before refocusing - they couldn't have gone far. She went up a steep rock that lifted out of the sand like a shipwreck sinking into the sea, thinking she'd get a better vantage point. Melody reached the end, and looked around. Then she heard arguing, and looked down the clifface, eventually spotting them in the shadow of the rock. Zafrina had her arms thrown in the air, Bay was trying to talk to her, a little wary of the staff she was carelessly swinging around.

"Please, just listen to me for once -"

"I do listen, I just -"

It was then Melody saw it, a flicker of movement down below, and she leaned over the edge, trying to realize what she was seeing. Just behind a boulder, sheer metres from Bay and Zafrina, she saw a dark shape. At first she thought it was a large fish, but then she saw a stick-like arm protrude from the cloak. Then she realized what it was holding, and her heart stopped. An arrow - aimed directly at Zafrina and Bay.


	21. Living ghosts

_"Look out!"_

Zafrina and Bay looked up, startled, at the shriek from above. They only saw Melody for a brief moment before a spear swung out of no where, swiping Melody clean from the water above. She went flying, luckily only the wooden handle had been used; she frantically swam herself straight, but then the glaive-wielding figure went to strike again.

Zafrina heard a whistle as something sailed by, very close to her ear, and when she turned, the arrow was in the sand. She spun round, to see a cloaked mermaid melt out of the shadows. Her heart leapt into her throat, for the mermaid was already reaching for another arrow. But she was looking up at Melody, who was frantically trying to claw her way out of reach of the glaive. The merman advanced, glacier poised. "Melody! Swim!" She shouted, before hearing another arrow fly, and and she had to duck. Bay went rushing to Melody, grabbing the merman from behind to stop him from following her. He shouted over the merman's struggling form.

"Get help!"

"I can't leave you both!"

"Just _go!"_ Zafrina shouted, not out of frustration, but because she was desperate to keep Melody out of harm's way. Thankfully Melody realized she wasn't to be argued with, for she suddenly turned tail and went racing to find Finn. The larger merman went to follow upon breaking free of Bay, but Zafrina blocked his path, determined not to let him reach Melody.

He laughed and rose the glistening glaive blade, and she briefly froze, noticing how sharp and long it was. "Zafrina!" She heard Bay shout, and he threw the staff. Zafrina, snapping out of her paralysis, dived to retrieve it. She rolled along the sand, aware that the merman was chasing her, before throwing up the staff to block the blow. There was a loud clang as the glaive came into contact with the ancient metal. Her arms shook as they took the force behind the strike, the blade trembling inches from her face. She looked up into the hood, and suddenly her eyes widened in shock. She _recognized_ him.

At first she struggled to pinpoint who it was. But then she remembered, all at once. His name, what was his name? A taunting voice came from underneath the hood, and then she knew.

"Remember me?" He sneered. Bay didn't need to see under the hood to know who it was; he knew the voice. It was very clear now in Zafrina's memory, throwing spears, barking orders to merpeople trapped by Nia's spell. The merman threw the hood off, not needing to hide his identity any longer.

"Icarus!" Exclaimed Bay, in shock. "What are you doing?" Icarus, one of the mermen who Nia had tasked to track them, was here. He was tall and lanky, thinner than they remembered. He was heavily tattooed with pale skin and jaw-length black hair, with darkness around his sunken eyes. His face was scarred on the left side, his lip was split from a recent brawl. Narcissus and Ravenna had said he was one of the few they hadn't heard from - there was an escape from the Delorea prison... and he'd been with one mermaid in particular. Zafrina felt sick as she looked over her shoulder at the other mermaid, putting two and two together.

"Where is it?" Icarus hissed, glaive pointed at Bay.

"Where's what?" Bay shouted, in confusion.

Zafrina spun round to face his companion as Bay tackled Icarus. _Don't be her. Don't be her..._ but she was shooting arrows, and the purple tail was familiar. It had to be her. Zafrina grabbed a piece of shipwreck wood off the ground, using it as a shield, for the slim staff wouldn't do her any favours against arrows. Then she heard a shout abruptly cut off, turning in time to see the wooden handle of the glaive hit Bay in the side of the head.

Bay was out for the count. He lay unconscious, a bruise blooming on his temple. Zafrina looked on in horror as Icarus dived on him, her throat locking so no words could get out; but he wasn't stabbing him. He was searching Bay's bag, frantically, turning it inside out so the contents rolled across the floor. "He doesn't have it!" Icarus reported in frustration. Zafrina was slowly beginning to realize what they were looking for, but didn't think, for the attackers had turned towards her, ignoring Bay now.

"Hand it over!" The hooded mermaid demanded, but Zafrina didn't have anything to give. Terrified, overwhelmed by the memories of these two merpeople, she turned and made a break for it, knowing they wouldn't harm Bay, for they were hot on her tail. The mermaid eventually turned to Icarus, a hand on his face. "She's mine. Make sure I'm not interrupted."

Finn was just swinging the bag over his shoulder when he heard the screams, of his name. His fingers slipped and the bag nearly slid off, as he whirled round to see Melody coming over the hill, her face flooded with terror. She reached him, her hands desperately pulling on his arm. "Finn! Zafrina and Bay are being attacked!"

 _"What?"_

 _"Come on!_ There's no time!"

Finn raced after Melody, a terrible feeling overcoming him, as they approached. Melody realized with horror that she no longer heard Bay and Zafrina shouting; all kinds of horrific thoughts entered her head, and when they came into the clearing, at first she thought half of that worst fear had come true. A merman lay on the sand, head bruised, eyes shut with his bag laying a few feet away, belongings thrown everywhere as Icarus had ransacked it.

"Bay!" Finn exclaimed, noticing his motionless best friend on the floor; but then relief crashed over him like a wave as he saw Bay move a little at the sound of his name. He muttered and his eyes flickered open. Melody reached him first, trying to help him sit up. "What did they want?" She asked, frantically, worriedly examining his bruise, as Finn helped Bay to sit up. Bay clung to Finn in his delirious state.

"They wanted... they wanted..." Bay struggled to speak. Finn thought for a moment, but then he looked down at his bag, which held the stone. Bay looked him dead in the eyes. "Finn... it was Icarus." Finn looked up, stomach lurching in horror; memories flooded over him of this particular merman.

"Icarus?" Melody stared at him in shock. "That's impossible..." but there had been a prison break. Then she saw the arrow in the sand, and she put two and two together. "Bay, who was with him? Not... not..." Melody desperately didn't want it to be true, so she didn't say her name. "No... where's Zafrina?"

Finn looked up in horror, hearing Zafrina's voice in the distance. Without really thinking, Finn put a hand on his bag, before he shot after the sound, aware that Zafrina was on her own with two of the most dangerous merpeople he knew. "Finn, come back!" Melody protested, but Bay, struggling to rise, meant she couldn't follow. She frantically tried to help him come back to his senses.

Zafrina raced on, desperately looking over her shoulder; where had the mermaid gone? She'd seen her in the corner of her eye, following relentlessly, but now she had disappeared. Zafrina slowed to a stop, thinking she'd lost her pursuer. She crouched in a small ditch, trembling, looking for any sign of movement. She peered through some seaweed, her lips quivering; she jolted. _Pfft. Pfft._ A quiet sound repeated itself, distances apart - there was a flash, and Zafrina jumped back as a cloud of purple smoke manifested out of nothing, with the mermaid appearing with it. She blinked in shock, as there mermaid suddenly disappeared again; then the smoke appeared above Zafrina's head, and she couldn't hide.

Zafrina plunged through the smoke, out of hiding, feeling a pair of fingernails claw for her arm in the process, but she just about slipped free. Zafrina fled across the sand, looking frantically over her shoulder. She turned around a corner, and it was there she heard it; a whistle through the air, right past her ear. Then she cried out as pain sliced into the left side of her neck. Zafrina crashed to the sand, hand clinging to her neck, before she scrabbled backwards, frantically clawing to press her back against a boulder.

She pressed her hand to the side of her neck, feeling the tear in the skin, feeling it bleed. Her breath came in ragged gasps, as she realized how close the arrow had come. She clenched her teeth, trying to stay silent through her pain, eyes screwing shut. The deadly accuracy, it had been shot to only graze, to hurt and scare her. There was only one mermaid who shot with such accuracy. Her eyes frantically tore from one corner of her vision to the next, desperately looking for where the arrow had been released. Then there was the same _pfft sound,_ and then she was eclipsed in shadow. Zafrina whipped her head up, eyes glossed over, flooded with a look; it was like that of a fawn faced with a wolf.

The hood was off. Ontari loomed over her, arrow drawn and pointed at her face. "Remember me?" Ontari echoed Icarus, a sinister smirk on her face. Ontari, Nia's right-hand mermaid, who had loved ordering Zafrina about. Ontari, who had ordered Zafrina to drown a shipwreck survivor. Next to Otan, Ontari was her worst nightmare.

"Not you..." Zafrina moaned, her hand still pressed against her neck.

"Yes, me." Ontari came forwards, and Zafrina frantically crawled backwards, struggling on one arm. Prison had not been good to Ontari - she had lost weight, she was covered in scratches and bruises. Her skin looked paper-thin, her face tired yet restless. Her brown hair was longer than Zafrina remembered, in layered braids now - much like how Nia wore her hair when she was alive. Her eyes were a murky brown, on the reddish side, like rust. Zafrina noticed a necklace around her neck, a tiny glass bottle filled with purple sand or powder - she thought she had seen it before, in Nia's lair. It was the same colour as the smoke. "I see you lot got off lightly after Nia. A couple now, are you? You and Bay? So sweet. You're positively glowing."

"You think so?" Zafrina asked, through sarcasm and gritted teeth. "What about you and Icarus? I heard you were getting comfortable in prison. You look a bit rough."

"We heard about granddaddy's death." Ontari snapped, turntaking the conversation. "How _tragic."_ Zafrina filled with pain and anger at the mockery in Ontari's voice.

"Missing Nia, are we?" Zafrina retaliated, despite the arrow held inches from her face.

"Stop stalling." Ontari hissed, the arrow coming closer, but Zafrina couldn't move any further, trapped against a boulder. Her voice was deadly as she spoke. "Now, where is it?"

"I honestly don't know what you're looking for!" Zafrina protested through tears, trying to reach up a hand to push the arrow away, but Ontari shoved it right to her skin, so she felt the tip on her throat.

"The stone!" Ontari snapped, and then it dawned upon Zafrina. "That's right, _that_ stone. We saw the beam in Belixia."

"It could have been any beam..." Zafrina said weakly, desperate to stall Ontari.

"Its a bit of a coincidence, that Triton, the former owner, suddenly dies and you lot go on a road trip to here of all places, where it came from. I'm waiting, Zafrina."

"I don't have it!" She didn't. Finn did, but she wasn't going to drop him in it. Ontari didn't believe her.

"Lies!" Ontari threw the bow to the sand; there was a glint as she reached into her cloak. Then a knife. Zafrina covered her face as Ontari drew her arm back, but then a blur crashed into Ontari and sent her flying. Ontari and Finn went flailing out of view, leaving Zafrina alone on the ground. She shook, her breath coming in ragged gasps, as she saw the knife on the floor, seeing her eyes reflected in the blade. After a few moments, Melody came speeding round the corner. Behind her, Bay followed, a little slower but gaining speed as he recovered from the strike to his temple. He came to entirely when he saw Zafrina.

"Are you okay? Did she hurt you?" He searched her eyes and looked her over for injuries, but her hand covered her neck still, so he couldn't see what Ontari had done. Melody saw the knife and the bow and arrows on the sand. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of darkness - Icarus, ignoring them, going to the sound of shrieking. It was there Melody realized it was Finn and Ontari shrieking. _Finn..._ She saw Icarus disappear over the hill, and it dawned upon her: Finn, _alone_ , with Ontari and Icarus.

"They don't have it! _I do!"_ Finn shouted, out of view, and Melody went cold. _What is he doing!_ Melody snatched up her staff, ignoring Zafrina and Bay, yelling at her to wait. Bay seized the dropped weapons and went to help Zafrina up. Over the hill, Ontari and Finn fought.

Finn had forgotten his battle training. Ontari was better trained and faster, and easily had the upper hand. Another knife appeared out of no where, and Finn grabbed her wrist to stop it from plunging into his shoulder. They struggled dangerously over the knife. "Give it here!" Ontari screeched, a fire blazing in her eyes, which were fixed on his bag that contained the casket. Her fingernails raked into his arm, and he cried out but didn't give in. He didn't even know why Ontari would want the stone, but he didn't want to find out.

"Come and get it!" Finn tried to, but he couldn't hide his fear. Ontari looked as though she were about to murder him, an unhinged look in her rust-coloured eyes. Of course she'd want to kill him. He'd killed Nia, taking away Ontari's power over others. She'd been torn away by Attina's soldiers, spitting and screaming that she would find and kill him. He was the reason she'd been imprisoned for a year. All he knew was that he had to keep her away from Melody, Zafrina and Bay.

Icarus came crashing in like a tsunami wave, knocking Finn away from Ontari, and he fell to the stone floor. Finn hit his head, and then he was on his back, sprawled on the ground, his head spinning. He felt a wound somewhere beneath the back of his hair. Finn shook his head slightly, dazed, but then it cleared immediately as he saw Ontari was above him. Icarus tossed her the glaive, and she pointed the blade down. Her eyes were filled with flame, her every intent was clear, her knuckles white as she clutched the glaive handle.

She uttered the words: "This is for my queen."

Finn realized, too late, what she was about to do. The realization slowly appeared on his face, his eyes darkened with pleading, to Ontari's - what Melody would call - humanity. He rose his hand, as if to protest.

Melody came over the hill in time to see Ontari drive the blade down.


	22. Too close to the sun

**_People familiar with my other stories will know how dark they can get, and this scene is why this story is rated 'T'. A little warning that this chapter is quite graphic._**

Time stopped to observe this moment in pure horror. Melody was paralyzed, her breath locked inside her lungs.

Finn's jaw parted in a scream of agony, but in her shock, Melody didn't hear it. Behind her, not yet to see this scene, Bay and Zafrina suddenly gripped each other hard, for they could hear Finn's agony tearing apart the fabric of silence.

His head thrashed onto the rock below, his hands clawing at the spear, cutting his fingers on the blade as he did. It was as though his jaw were about to rip itself away from his skull, while his tail thrashed as though it had a mind of its own. Ontari ripped the blade free, and then the violent movements went slack. He twitched, in complete shock, before his head fell back. Finn lay in a cloud of his own blood, eerily still and silent.

Finally, something kicked Melody alive. It happened in slow motion. Melody came tearing down the hill, staff swinging through the air, her voice a piercing shriek. _"Get away from him!"_

Ontari and Icarus had been so revelling in this moment, watching Finn writhe in his agony, that when Melody came flying in they were completely caught off-guard. Ontari went lurching backwards in surprise as the staff swung through the air; it whacked Icarus and sent him flailing across the stone where he landed, stunned. Ontari cried out in rage that Melody had hurt him, but this was nothing compared to what she had done to Finn.

Melody briefly floated between them and Finn, before whirling around to look down at the seabed in horror. Finn had curled onto his side, into himself. His back was to her, but she saw the puncture, sitting next to his spine. Before she could go to him, pain raked across her left arm, stinging and sharp. Ontari clutched the glaive with an expression, both mocking and furious that they had been interrupted. Melody whirled around, and suddenly Ontari's delighted expression faded.

Melody's eyes blazed, out of character, with blue fire directed at Ontari. She had never felt it before. The horror of what they had done to Finn, the shock, her blind fury rising out of no where. She wanted to hurt Ontari more than anything she'd ever felt. With reckless abandonment and a wordless cry, Melody launched herself across the space and began attacking her with the staff, swinging it with all her might.

Ontari merely dodged at first. But then she started reacting, finally realizing she had underestimated Melody, who was fuelled by rage. Ontari and Melody began fighting across the sand, Melody's fury consuming her. All the while, Ontari goaded her and attempted to fight closer so she could finish her work on Finn. The staff was knocked from Melody's hand, and again Ontari ricocheted back towards Finn. Melody seized the glaive as she turned away, and they grappled over it, attempting to wrench it from one another's grasp.

Behind them, Bay dove across the sand to Finn. He was shouting at Ontari and Icarus, where he was holding Finn's head in both hands. _"What did you do?_ What have you _done?"_ Bay turned Finn over from where he had been curled in agony on one side. When Finn rolled onto his back, Bay saw where the glaive had clawed a mark into the stone seabed, and the red tear in his friend's belly. His hand covered his mouth as he saw the far away look in Finn's eyes, as the cloud of red grew and grew. His best friend, who he'd known all his life, had been skewered by Nia's glaive. It was Nia's, Bay recognized the symbol carved into the blade.

"Finn, talk to me!" Bay said, urgently. Finn mumbled, eyelids flickering, his hands trembling above his belly where the blade had gone in. Bay frantically took off his cloak and pressed it to Finn's wound, at first thinking he'd hurt him, but Finn, at this point, barely felt it. He was miles away.

"Bay..."

"I'm here, it's okay, just don't..."

"Melody...?" Finn murmured, deliriously. Bay looked up helplessly, unable to leave him; he could only watch in mortification as Melody and Ontari battled.

Ontari flung Melody to the floor and went to drive down the glaive. Adrenaline coursing through her veins, Melody seized the pole with both hands and resisted, pushing back against the weapon. Ontari grimaced, surprised that Melody was stronger than she remembered, and she forced it down with all her strength. Melody looked into Ontari's rust coloured eyes, seeing only pure rage and malice. Like Nia. It came closer and closer to her face, and Melody flooded with images of her life. The blade was an inch from her face, and as she noticed this, the glaive tip managed to slice a cut just above her left eyebrow.

Zafrina came to an abrupt halt behind them, staring at the scene, unable to comprehend what she was seeing. She couldn't even ask what had happened - she had lost her voice. Bay, trying to stem the bleeding in the ragged wound on Finn's stomach; Icarus, deliriously picking himself off the floor; and Ontari, about to shove the blade into Melody's forehead. Zafrina went charging forwards, forgetting the wound on her neck and the fact that Finn was dying.

"Leave her alone!" Zafrina seized Ontari's fallen bow and arrows, drew one and took aim at Ontari. Melody dodged the blade and rolled out of the way, onto her back. She raised her head, suddenly seeing Ontari above her with the glaive, the same glaive she had stabbed Finn with. She realized her mistake of attacking Ontari, who had risen the glaive over her like she had over Finn. Melody crawled back frantically. Zafrina took aim at Ontari's arm, knowing that Melody was about to die, if she did nothing.

The moment suddenly grew very lucid. Time moved slowly. Icarus saw Zafrina aim the arrow at Ontari, where he was finally dragging himself off the floor. He didn't realize she was only aiming for her arm - and then he was springing forwards.

Zafrina let the arrow fly.

It took Zafrina a few moments to realize that what she saw flying in the intercept the arrow was Icarus, leaping across the path of the arrow to shield Ontari. Zafrina's heart imploded as she realized what was about to happen. She cried out. Bay tore his eyes away from Finn, Melody's protests abruptly cut short, as did Ontari's goading - and Icarus fell silent. Bay's mouth hung open a little, his eyes mortified. Zafrina floated there, initially rigid, before she started to shake.

Zafrina had shot him through the chest.

Icarus briefly looked down at the arrow in his sternum, as if in surprise. He looked at Zafrina who looked back, her hand clasped over her mouth. It was so quick. His dark eyes rolled and he slumped to the floor, and Ontari turned in time to see him fall. She stared, as her lover's arm fell to the ground, limp. Straight into his heart. Icarus had stopped breathing already. Just like that.

Zafrina's lips parted, but no sound came out.

Ontari was screaming. She threw a knife at Zafrina but missed as she took Icarus into her arms, pleading him to stay, but he had gone too far to turn back. With the other hand, she had seized the pendant around her neck. In an explosion of purple smoke and a mournful shriek, Ontari and Icarus vanished. Just like that, it was silent. It was over. Finally, the screaming stopped.

Melody slowly looked at Zafrina who had both hands clasped over her mouth, at what she had just done. But Bay's high-pitched shouting distracted her as she remembered. "Melody, Zafrina! Get over here!" Melody didn't think about anything else, ignoring Zafrina as she pushed herself off the seabed. Zafrina did not move.

Melody tore across the rock, to Finn's side at last. Bay retreated, as Melody cradled Finn's face, desperately trying to keep him awake. His lip was cut, his cheek was bruised so his birthmark wasn't visible. His eyes flickered, delirious, barely there. "Finn, look at me... angel, please..." She looked at the wound in horror. It continued to bleed, heavily, despite Bay's cloak which he was still pressing on it. When she seized his hand, it was like a dead weight. It was already cold. His eyes flickered open and shut, fixed on her. Melody's eyes were flooding with tears.

"Melody..." his voice was broken, she barely heard it. She pulled him into her arms, a hand on his face, his eyes now closed, but he tried to speak regardless. "...I'm sorry."

"Ssh, don't speak! Listen to me... hold on." But his grip on her hand slowly went loose. It was sliding out of her own, his head was slowly hanging over her arm. She didn't understand. She didn't know why Bay was crying.

"Just listen to me, stay with me..." Melody looked desperately at Bay. "Do something! Get help! _Please_!" But Bay, his mouth slightly open, gave a tiny shake of his head, his eyes glossy and telling her the awful truth. Melody blinked, but then she shook her own. "No, no... I won't believe that..." She shook Finn again, fumbling to find his heartbeat, which she had felt against her ear only minutes ago as they'd danced. Her hands shook so much she couldn't feel it, or... "Finn, I'm still here... please, somebody..."

Melody looked up at Bay in despair, at Zafrina, who hadn't moved. She shook in grief. _"Help..."_ her small voice could have bounced off stone walls. The world fell silent. Melody's mouth was parted in a cry that wasn't heard, her face filled with anguish, as she rocked Finn in her arms, her cheek pressed against his hair, her hand holding his head to her. She whispered into his hair, brokenly. "Please, no... come back. I'm still here..."

Zafrina watched them, numb. She had picked up the arrow Icarus had pulled out of his chest, and her hands trembled, as the emotions cascaded on her, a calamity of regret and grief taking over her, both for her mistake, and for Finn. Yet it was here Bay remembered what Triton said. A sudden light inside his head, he was fumbling to retrieve something from Finn's bag. "Melody..." Melody sobbed, clinging to Finn, holding her forehead to his, not hearing.

"Melody..." Bay repeated himself. Melody almost screamed at him in anger, the second stage of grief manifesting. But when she lifted her head with trembling lips and tear-flooded eyes, she made a sound between a catch of the throat and a moan. She saw. He held the stone in his hand, the tears in his own eyes reflecting the yellow jewel's light. There was a brief pause as she realized, it was possible. Melody didn't hesitate.

"Please, Bay... please, do it." Her voice broke. Bay gave a tiny nod. He made a wish, and the jewel started to glow. A light disappeared into Finn's skin. He kept at the pressure on Finn's wound, despite the fact that it was slowing down.

"Finn... Finn..." Melody pleaded in a choked whisper. She pressed her lips to his forehead. She'd lost count of how much she'd said it - but she said it again. "I love you. Wake up."

 _Finn heard her, a whisper in the dark._

 _"Wake up."_

 _He had been sinking into darkness from the moment he'd felt the glaive go through. It had been a gentle pulling at first, like a current, but then it had started to drag him down violently, as though he were a sailor and a mermaid was attempting to drown him like in the myths. He'd fought against Nia, thinking she was trying to drag him into her dark world. She'd appeared behind Ontari, looking full of glee. He'd imagined her, being the one to drag him down, her laughter drowning out Melody's voice._

 _But now he'd hit a floor, like black glass. He could see his face reflected in it, his cut lip, the bruise drowning his birthmark in black. He frowned at his reflection, his pain making him feel heavy and weak. He could hear Nia taunting him, and he looked up, around, trying to see her. He curled up, arms wrapped around his head, trying to block it out. It slowly faded away, to the silence of the dead._

This is it? The end?

 _"Sweetheart." A_ _voice that wasn't Nia's. He slowly lifted his head, to see a shadowy form as the darkness grew, but now, it seemed to draw back. He felt his pain seeping away, as he recognized his mother, Merissa. Her long, dark brown hair billowed around her, and her movement was slow and graceful. He thought he'd be happy to see her again. But now he was filled with terror. This was it. His deceased loved ones had come for him._

 _"So this is it?" Finn dragged himself off the floor, shrinking away from Merissa. Her brown eyes - as he'd remembered them when they were alive - were sad and dark. They'd always looked sorrowful no matter how happy she genuinely was. He felt her reaching for him, and he cried out, in protest, thinking she was going to take him with her._

I'm not out of time. I can't be.

 _He froze when she embraced him, but then he melted almost immediately. She was warm, as real as she had when alive. A golden light was streaming from somewhere, but he couldn't see where. His wounds were healing. He looked into Merissa's eyes, trying not to cry, conflicting emotions tearing him apart. He loved her so much, part of him didn't want to leave her, but he thought about Melody, Bay, Zafrina. He couldn't stay here with his mother, not yet."I can't. I can't leave her."_

 _"I know."_

 _The golden light grew stronger, like a sunrise, and Finn feared it was the ending light. But her grip on him was going loose. Merissa wasn't taking him with her - she was letting him go._

Finn still lay motionless on the floor, his body still broken. Bay dropped the jewel and covered his face, thinking they were too late. But then he looked through his hands, and he dropped them in surprise. He looked wide-eyed at the wound - or where it had once been. Zafrina watched, shuddering.

Melody continued to cradle his body in her arms, her eyes still closed in despair.

One of her hands lay on his chest. Then she felt a palm cover her own. Melody's breath caught as she snapped her face up, daring herself to hope. She felt a faint flicker within his chest, and then it was beating, thrashing against her hand, all at once, like a bird's wings. His eyes, glazed but open, were fixed on her and becoming clearer. Melody released a strangled cry, and then a sob, as she covered his hand with her own.

Bay sat back, stunned, unable to believe it.

Zafrina hadn't moved. Finally, the bow and arrow fell to the stone floor with a loud clatter.


	23. Shattered

There was no way they'd be sleeping, alone and exposed, in the open. So they'd dragged themselves back to the capital, where the festivities continued, loudly and brightly. They had weaved through dancing people and sea animals in the street, looking to see if there was somewhere they could hide, where they were too close to the public eye for Ontari to attempt to attack them again.

They'd eventually come upon the only secure hiding place, an abandoned shack built into a cave, on the outer rim of the city. After barricading the entrance, they'd found two rooms directly next to each other, divided by a curtain torn from a shipwreck. The place hadn't been lived in for years, with dead seaweed, dust and an eerie emptiness, but it was better than nothing.

Of course, Bay couldn't sleep. He hovered in the center of the room, not sure what he was waiting for. He kept looking at Zafrina, who appeared to be asleep, her back against the wall. It looked very uncomfortable, her body twisted in an unnatural position, but he didn't want to disturb her. He watched Zafrina, thinking back to when they'd been looking for somewhere - something was wrong with her. He had been pulling Zafrina along with him, and she had let him guide her, moving as though she were blind. Her eyes were fixed straight ahead, like gold glass, her nails digging so hard into her wrists she'd left crescent moons in them.

He glanced to the curtain, seeing it move. Melody came in, nervous, wringing her hands. Bay looked at his friend, nonchalant, after the exhaustion and trauma of the day. "How is he?" Bay asked, arms folded, as Melody emerged. Looking exhausted, Melody pushed a hand through her hair, eyes closed. Finn had been silent the whole way - in fact, all of them had. She'd attempted to braid her hair, but had given up halfway through, her hands shaking too much.

"Quiet. But he's okay." She looked around him, where Zafrina was asleep against the wall, bundled in her and Bay's cloaks. This was why she was feeling nervous, about being here. "What about her? Is she..?" They'd come to realize that a lot worse had happened, as they'd seen what happened to Zafrina in the aftermath of Ontari and Icarus' disappearance. There was no way Icarus was still alive. The arrow had gone straight into his heart, and Bay had seen that he was no longer breathing; he'd kept this detail to himself.

"I don't want to wake her up. She barely slept as it was, before. But now..." Bay shook his head, and covered his forehead with a hand. "Don't worry. I think you should talk to her tomorrow. Get some sleep, you both need it. It's been a long day." Melody hesitated, worried about Zafrina - she should say something to her, but she was asleep, and after all... it was more than likely that Zafrina would scream at her to leave her alone. Melody turned and and went through the curtain, but she hid behind it, peering through the gap. Bay turned around, wondering how he would be able to sleep, but then he noticed.

Zafrina was awake.

She was hunched into the wall, cloak wrapped tightly around her, her head turned to the right, into her shoulder. Her arms wrapped tightly around her torso, clasping her shoulder with one, her other pressed around her waist. Her eyes had gone dark, haunted, darker than and more restless than he'd ever seen them. They were flickering about in pure terror, her tail tight against her belly, her hair a tangled, knotted mess. Bay's heart slowly started to thud, as he saw what the battle had done to Zafrina.

"What have I done?" She whispered, barely audible.

Bay sank to the floor beside her, feeling helpless. What could he say, to possibly make this better? The simple answer was, he had nothing. What did you say to someone who had spent the last year tortured by what she had done in attempts to protect herself and her friends, only to have her worst fear come to reality in the most brutal way? Icarus had dropped, his body making a heavy sound. Ontari had escaped with him in a puff of smoke, to who knew where. How on earth she'd been doing that was a question for another time.

"I killed him, Bay." In a small voice. "I _killed_ him..."

"It... it was an accident." Bay reached toward her, but she flinched from his touch. He quickly retracted his hand, and there was a catch in his throat as he spoke. "Zafrina... It was his decision, you couldn't have possibly known... it wasn't your fault, it was his mistake..." Zafrina only started to weep. It was here he noticed, hidden under her hair. "Your neck!"

"It's fine... it's just a scratch..." Zafrina started to cry even more as he pushed her hair aside to assess the damage. It had been shot from above, seemingly from an impossible angle; it started from under her jaw, down to her collarbone, in a steep diagonal cut, in dark crimson. Only Ontari had an aim like that, and he flooded with guilt. Bay immediately thought of how the jewel had healed Finn's wounds.

"Let me get the stone -"

 _"No!_ Keep that thing away from me!" Zafrina cried out, fiercely, as she covered her mouth with her hands. "It's why we're here, why they attacked us, why I just killed... oh, Bay, what have I done? What have I _done?"_ Bay went to embrace her, unable to find words to comfort her. Initially Zafrina cried out in protest, fighting against him, but then she went slack almost instantly. With a soft cry, she buried her face into his neck, hands clasped to her mouth, but she couldn't silence her cries of anguish. She broke apart in his arms, and he held her tight, trying to keep her together.

"It wasn't your fault, it wasn't your fault..." he said,bover and over. But Zafrina didn't believe him. She continued to sob, for a rare moment in her life, completely surrendering to crying.

Melody looked through the curtain but didn't dare interrupt, her heart breaking for her cousin. _Whatever will I say to her, when the time comes?_ She pressed her shaking hands to her mouth, before she told herself not to think about it. Still wringing her hands, she backed away from the curtain, relieved that Zafrina's voice was silenced by the curtain and the tunnel. Venturing down the short tunnel, Melody reached their room. She turned around the corner, to see his silhouette in the 'window'; the gap in the wall, just like their home. Their cloaks lay on the floor behind him.

Finn floated with his back to her, where he had swept open the seaweed curtains and not moved since. He was looking outside, over the capital, the faint sound of slow music reaching them; this part of the city was raised. His knuckles were pressed against his lips, his eyes tightly closed, as though he were anxious. Of course he would be. He'd been stabbed and killed a few hours ago.

He barely remembered it; he remembered Ontari's rust coloured gaze, filled with hatred, the scar on Icarus' face carved into the scene. He remembered hearing Melody, screaming, at him, at Ontari, and Bay, telling him to stay with him. After that, it was darkness... Finn felt a tremor run through his body, and he fought back tears.

Melody felt her hands trembling as she melted out of the shadows. Finn, sensing her, looked over his shoulder, his face unreadable. "Are you okay?" Melody asked, coming up next to him. Her arms were wrapped around herself, as though she were cold. They'd barely said a word to each other in their shaken states, instead just clinging to each other the whole night. She surveyed his face. His eyes were dark and oddly still, a narcoticized look taking over them, as if he were a million miles away. He was obviously traumatized.

"No." Finn said, softly. Melody broke a little inside. "Melody, I... I can't -"

Impulsively, Melody placed both hands on his face. For a moment she thought he would shake her off, but he didn't. She didn't know why she was doing it - perhaps she had to assure herself that this was real, that he hadn't really died, that he was here in front of her. Her thumbs swept across his face, familiarizing herself with the contrast between the softness of his skin and the roughness of his stubble. He was the only one uninjured - the stone had healed all his bruises and the cut in his lip, all down to a minor scratch he'd received when he'd accidentally scraped past some dead coral - also gone. He looked new and conditioned, but his eyes revealed the truth, that he was far from it inside.

His head bowed ever so slightly, as he covered her hands with his own, his face turning into her left palm, and her throat grew tight with emotion, her lips trembling. "I thought you was going to die." She whispered. Finn opened his eyes, his heart aching with torment. Her eyes were red from crying, there was dark grey pooling underneath them. In the gloom of their hiding place, she looked even more tired than she really was. Her eyelashes casted long shadows over her cheekbones, making the effect worse. It was here he noticed, and a little awareness came back into his gaze.

"Melody, your face..." he tilted her face so he could see it properly. The slice in the left side of Melody's forehead was a little over two inches in length, diagonal and running parallel to the curve of her eyebrow. There was also the slash in her left arm, which he briefly remembered seeing Ontari deliver. Melody closed her eyes and shook her head slightly, swatting his hand away.

"Don't worry about it." Melody didn't particularly care that Ontari had tried to drive the glaive through her skull, she'd forgotten it. She had someone else to worry about. She kept looking down between them, and it took Finn a moment to realize that she was looking at where the blade had gone into his stomach.

Finn took her hand and placed it where the glaive had gone through, to convince her that he was fine, but also to convince himself that he was. Melody flinched initially, but then she loosened, her hand remaining, tracing the area. He was fine - there was no mark at all. Nothing, to say that it had ever been there. Her eyes moved to his.

"I'm still here." Finn murmured, his hands returning to her face. Melody's hands held onto his wrists as though she couldn't support herself, the tears escaping through her closed eyes as she pressed her lips to his, gently, as though he were made of glass. Finn felt his own tears come flooding back to him, as he kissed her back, before he pulled her into his arms. Melody huddled in his embrace, feeling, hearing his heart under her hand and ear.

"Don't let this happen again, please." Melody looked him in the eyes, her hand turning his face toward hers. " _Please_. I love you. I can't lose you." They held each other by the seaweed curtain, the moon turning them silver, like it had when they'd shared their first kiss.

"You never will. I promise."


	24. Divided

It had been around four hours and it was well into the middle of the night. The festivities, while still going on, were growing quiet. Moonlight filtered in, and in the abandoned cave, it turned everything silver. In their separate rooms, the couples slept.

In their room, Melody lay under a cloak, cocooned in Finn's arms, their faces close. She was nuzzled into him, a hand still on his chest so she could feel his heartbeat, with his hand on her jaw and neck. They had drawn the seaweed curtain, but strands of moonshine still trickled through. Finn slept on, thankfully not muttering and restless, but somehow in deep sleep, because she was there. Somehow Melody was asleep too despite the day they'd had. Despite this, Finn still had a hand on his belly, as if to protect it. His face wasn't completely serene, either.

The other room was vastly different. Zafrina was awake, in complete disbelief, that Bay and the others were able to sleep. He was curled up next to her like a sea otter, a hand extended toward her as he slept, his hair splayed across their cloaks, but he wasn't sleeping easy, occasionally murmuring - it sounded like 'No.' Of course it would, he was probably having nightmares about what happened. Zafrina didn't think to wake him.

She'd had to pretend to sleep, to get him to drift off. Now, she sat up, against the wall, hugging her tail to her chest, her mind in tatters. She obsessively picked at her neck, knowing she was making it worse, but the pain distracted her. _What have I done? What have I done?_ It whirled round and round in her head, screaming at her whenever she briefly got a distraction.

Her tears escaped into the water around her, as she contemplated what she had done. After everything. After the whole year of fretting and worrying, having nightmares about what she could have done, Ravenna reassuring her that she'd done no such thing - she had indeed killed someone. Her worst fear had come true in the most horrible way, in such chaos - Finn dying on the floor, Bay desperately trying to keep him alive, Ontari attempting to stab Melody who tried to flee in terror. It was all a blur, a nightmare.

Icarus' scarred face loomed in her mind, terrified, pleading for her to put the arrow down - this was what Zafrina imagined, although he hadn't been afraid. Of course, her memory was toying with her. Yet he'd only been trying to protect Ontari. Zafrina had only aimed to hurt her, to distract her from trying to kill Melody, who she loved like a sister. Icarus had misunderstood, thinking she was shooting to kill. Melody had gotten herself into that mess, by attacking Ontari in fury. A slow burning, of remorse - and curiously, anger, and not only at herself.

 _You're blaming Melody. What are you doing? It wasn't her fault._

She couldn't blame Melody. Ontari had been repeatedly trying to kill Finn while he was down, of course she'd had no other choice than to try and stop her. Zafrina would do the same without question, if it had been Bay laying there. Yet her stubborn side came creeping up, inserting all sorts of irrational things into her mind. _No, don't blame her... It wasn't her fault. You made a mistake, you had no other choice -_

 _"You killed him for Melody."_ Zafrina jolted as though she'd been electrocuted. She looked around frantically, but there was nobody there. Yet Bay seemed to stir, and he muttered and turned over.

"Bay?" She whispered uncertainly, but he didn't stir again. Had he heard it? It wasn't just inside her head? She gasped, slammed her hands over her ears, as she heard it again, much more mocking this time.

 _"You heard me... it's her fault. If it weren't for her.._." The voice was smooth, the most obviously manipulative voice she'd heard, and it sent coldness deep into her bones.

"Who's there?" She whispered, as a cold current passed through the caves. The hairs on her neck rose.

Zafrina saw something shiny catch her attention, and stiffened when she noticed that the casket had been left open, where they'd left their bags on a cabinet the former owner had recovered from a shipwreck. The jewel's yellow light seared more brightly than ever, as though it were thinking. She heard the voice again. " _Yes, you killed him because of her... aren't you angry?"_

In her confused and tattered state of mind, she could have sworn that the voice was coming from... Zafrina dove across the floor and slammed the casket shut, and the voice immediately stopped. She was staring at it, her blood roaring in her ears, praying it were a coincidence. Hands pressed against her face, she backed away, heart fluttering dangerously fast, for as she'd shut the casket, the voice had stopped.

 _This isn't real. You're imagining things..._ Slowly, panic crept into her. Was the place haunted? It looked creepy enough to be. Zafrina covered her ears, rocking slightly.

 _"You did murder someone... but it wasn't your fault, was it? Admit it, my child... who truly is to blame?"_ Zafrina started to cry softly.

Melody had been comfortably, deeply asleep - despite the horrific ending to the night, their moment by the cave gap - or window, as she still called it - had ended it bittersweet. Yet then, she stirred, for she thought she heard a voice - a chilling one. Her eyes opened, and she looked around sleepily. Surely she was imagining things... except that. There was a strange sound coming from the other room, like a whimpering, and suddenly she was wise awake. It was Zafrina. She eased herself from Finn, careful not to wake him, and moved to the curtain.

 _This is madness. It's a stone. It can't speak. You're going mad._ Zafrina felt lucid. She groaned, and covered her face, feeling a headache coming on. A terrible feeling made her belly contract, and suddenly she was feeling light-headed. She didn't see Melody come in.

"..Zafrina?" She felt Melody's hand on her shoulder, her other on her arm. She was trembling.

"I... I think I'm going to be sick." Zafrina raced outside, and her prediction came true. She was sick in the deserted street, with Melody trying to comfort her, oblivious to what she had just heard.

"Zafrina, I'm so sorry - listen, this wasn't your fault, it wasn't -"

In her grief - and her anger - Zafrina didn't hear a word of it. Melody's comfort meant nothing, for the first time in her life.

 _Morning_

As they waited for Finn and Melody, Bay leaned out of the entrance, cautiously looking around. What surprised him was the number of drunkards passed out in the street. "They can't take it, can they? Light-weights." He said, dryly, attempting humour. Zafrina hovered behind him, arms wrapped around herself. Bay didn't expect her to laugh, but there wasn't even a flicker of emotion there. His heart contracted painfully as he came before her, gently taking her face in both hands. "Talk to me. Please... what can I do? To make this better?" Zafrina looked blankly at him. Bay's hands dropped slowly, to dangle at his sides, but she took his hand before he turned away.

"Just... don't ask me about it. Just don't stay beside me... please." Zafrina leaned against him. "I just want to be with you. Nobody else."

"Whatever you want." He gave her hand a gentle squeeze. But she meant it. If she could, she'd just take Bay, and swim away with him, leaving all the responsibility to Melody and Finn.

She was starting to wonder if they should.


	25. Tension

Melody leaned against a boulder, running her fingertips on the two-inch scab above her eyebrow. It didn't bother her much, nor did the deep scratch on her arm. Finn kept suggesting she use the stone to heal them, but for some reason, it made her uneasy. She thought she had heard a voice last night, and her skin had been cold ever since. Zafrina had the stone in her bag, but she kept stopping, holding the bag to her ear, as if listening to something. What was going on?

Melody was unable to keep her eyes off Zafrina. Her cousin had slumped to the floor, and now she was anxiously gnawing her nails. At least she had stopped clawing at her neck, which Melody had patched up with a special kind of seaweed known for it's healing properties. Melody had put some in one of the bags, just in case, not thinking that the journey would be _this dangerous._ Yet Melody had barely received a 'thank you'. Zafrina hadn't said a word to her all morning. Her eyes had acquired a worrying blankness and her face was tormented.

They were having a rest; Bay had ventured off in search of food, while Finn had gone to get a good viewpoint. They'd passed the peak Narcissus had mentioned to Finn, and apparently it was about to get more volcanic, although Melody didn't notice it yet. They'd left at dawn, and now it was the afternoon. This part of Wundagore was getting more sparse and more rocky, with less lilac sand and less people. The last merperson they'd passed had been three hours ago.

Conversation had been near dead. Bay had briefly asked Finn how he was feeling; he'd replied, "good". Any talk had been between Melody and Finn, or Zafrina and Bay - couple to couple, not friend to friend.

"Stop staring at me." Zafrina's gaze shifted from space to Melody, yet what concerned her was the anger in her tone, and in her eyes. She chose her next words carefully.

"I'm worried about you."

"Stop pretending you care." Melody couldn't believe her ears. Never, in their six years of knowing each other, had Zafrina said something so near the mark or false. Of course she cared! Didn't Zafrina remember anything she'd said to her last night?

"Zafrina!"

"Oh, stop saying my name! I'm sure everytime you've spoken to me, it's been my name and nothing else. Can't you get it into your thick human skull that it's obvious I want to be left alone?" Zafrina snapped, too bitter to care about the hurt in Melody's eyes. She got up, and her voice rose as she came forwards, with almost threatening body language. "I killed someone, do you expect me to a chatterbox?"

"Of course not!" Melody shrank away - what was happening? Zafrina looked so angry, and for the first time, she felt afraid of her. Zafrina noticed this. She felt, once again, guilty, but didn't apologize. Her lips shook as she covered her face.

"Then do me a favour and keep swimming!" Zafrina pushed past Melody and disappeared to where Bay had gone. Melody tried to catch her arm, but she was already gone.

"I can't keep swimming, we're on a break!" Melody gave up, and dragged her staff in the sand. It was slowly dawning upon her the seriousness of what had happened. It was an accident, but it was Zafrina's worst nightmare. And worst of all, something told her that Zafrina blamed her. She kept catching Zafrina staring at her, with the most angered look. Melody felt so responsible, as she realized that it was her attacking Ontari that had caused Zafrina to draw an arrow, which had lead to Icarus flinging himself into its path. But then if she hadn't, Ontari would have tried to finish the job on Finn, or she would have attacked her anyway. What else could she have done?

Her attempt to comfort Zafrina last night had failed - she'd been sick outside, Melody had put her back to bed - but even though she'd thrown everything she had into comforting her, it hadn't made a difference. Zafrina hadn't slept at all, with extreme darkness under her eyes from how tired she was. As a result, she was sleep deprived and extremely angry at anyone - except Bay, who seemed to know what to avoid. He hadn't said much, offering physical comfort, by holding her hand, or offering his arm. Melody had tried to link arms with Zafrina and she'd almost bitten her head off. Zafrina had briefly asked Finn how he was feeling, but nothing more.

Unable to find Zafrina or Bay - or afraid of what Zafrina would say - Melody swam up a rock column to where Finn had gone to get a high view point. He perched on top, staring into space - not scanning the horizon or consulting the map. She shook her head slightly.

"How are we looking?" She asked, softly, but he still jumped in surprise, a if expecting someone like Ontari.

"I know where we're going... its straight on." Melody sat beside him, and leaned on his shoulder. "How's Zafrina?"

"I've been trying all day. I'm so worried about her - neither of them want to talk to us. Bay does more so, but the pair of them are sticking together."

"We're doing the same thing."

"I suppose that doesn't help. But what can I do? She won't talk to me, no matter what I try. I want to help, but I can't, if she doesn't let me."

"You've tried your best. Look, it's going to be extremely raw. When I killed Nia... I felt awful for days. And I hated her, and I was trained not to feel..." Finn's voice faded away as he realized the darkness of such a statement. Trained to not feel regret. Trained to kill and hurt without question or hesitation... "Zafrina and you had a very different upbringing to me and Bay. We feel less regret... and people are affected differently. You can feel awful, you can feel nothing. What I'm saying is, that Zafrina is one of those people who carries that guilt and finds it hard to drop. But with time, it'll get better."

"I hope you're right." There was silence. "I'm just... worried about something else."

"What?"

"Ontari." Finn glanced her way, but she noticed his hand instinctively cover his belly. The water between them seemed to turn cold at the mention of her name. "Do you think we've seen the last of her?" They'd killed her lover. Ontari wasn't the sort of mermaid to forget it.

"I don't know. Her new magic trick doesn't make it any easier. I know where she got it."

"That necklace?" Melody remembered the small glass bottle hanging on a chain around Ontari's neck, filled with the purple sand or powder.

Finn looked depressed as he rested his chin on his hand. "Nia stole it from a seawitch. She kept it in her lair, the owner made it to take them wherever they wanted, but it could only take up to four people at a time. She didn't use it because she kept using her own magic to try and tinker with it. She was trying to make it take more people at a time - say, a whole army. Luckily whoever made it was more powerful than her, so she didn't get very far. Ontari must've gone back to Belixia and retrieved it."

Melody remembered when she and Zafrina had been attacked by the shark, when they'd used the stone for the first time - which Ontari apparently knew about. The explosion the stone had blasted a hole into the sealed tower - had Ontari and Icarus gone in there to salvage weapons? There was no way Ontari had stolen the necklace beforehand. "When will this stop?" She whispered. "When will Nia go away?"

For Finn, he didn't think ever. He'd gotten used to seeing her lurking in the corner of his vision, and the dreams no longer surprised him.

"I don't know. We just have to get this stone to Circe so we can go home..."

Zafrina looked for Bay, feeling like a lost child without him. She tried to ignore the voice she heard, coming from the stone. She had shut the casket - but it still seeped through.

 _Listen to me._

 _Shut up. Who are you?_

 _I wonder how guilty Melody feels. Probably not at all... you have to cope with everything, don't you?_ Zafrina furiously rooted through the bag, finding the casket, and she started bundling it up in some seaweed; she didn't realize that the casket close had been damaged, which was why the voice continued to seep through. The voice muffled, and when she put it first in the bag, and then her bag in the cloak pocket, Zafrina didn't hear it anymore. She breathed a sigh of relief. For some reason she had a mental block, that meant she didn't register the seriousness of what she was hearing. Panicking slightly from the voice, she called out louder than she intended.

"Bay? Bay?" Almost immediately, he came rushing around the corner, his hair in an adorable bun.

"Are you alright?" He asked, tentatively. Zafrina flooded with relief.

"Yes. I was wondering where you were." In Bay's company, Zafrina seemed to feel more alert and more stable. She lifted her face, and gave him a particular look, and Bay took that as permission. He gently held her face in both hands, and kissed her, softly, sweetly, and Zafrina felt a little better, her hands stopped shaking for a moment. Zafrina would often be the one to kiss him, but in her fragile state, she wasn't leading anything.

"How are you?" He asked, gently. Zafrina had snapped at Melody for asking.

"I don't know. But you just made it a lot better. I... don't judge me..."

"Never."

"I just want to... _go_." Bay looked startled. "I love you, I love them, but I just keeping wondering whether it's better if we..." Zafrina hated herself for saying it - it wasn't right, or fair. Bay knew it was unthinkable, to leave Melody and Finn to do it on their own. But it wasn't like he hadn't thought about it too...

It was this moment that the tremor reached them. "Woah." Bay looked about in alarm and Zafrina grabbed his arm to steady herself. A few pebbles slid down the rock slope as the area shook. The tremor continued for several moments, before it eventually lulled to nothing. They paused for a moment, in case it started again, but there didn't seem to be any more.

"What was that?"

"A tremor from below. It's getting more volcanic. Speaking of, you should see this, it's pretty cool." He tried to distract her and himself. Unsure of what Bay meant, Zafrina let him guide her, before they saw a faint glow. There was a crack in the stone seabed, and from it was oozing a glowing substance. Directly inside the crack, it glowed fiercely, but the rest of it that had spread along the sea floor was turning grey as it was cooled from the cold seawater. They looked at it in fascination, with it being a welcome distraction from their other thoughts. "It's getting more volcanic."

"Looks like we'll have to be wary from here on out." Zafrina slipped her hand into his, eyes on the glowing magma. She couldn't help herself confessing.

"I still feel -"

"Don't. Don't do that to yourself." Bay faced her. "It was an accident. It wasn't you. It was Icarus misunderstanding. He made the decision, not you." Zafrina nodded like a lost child, resting her forehead against Bay's chest. The moment was broken however, as Melody and Finn came around the corner. Zafrina thought she heard a murmuring from her pocket. "Yes, we felt the tremor." Bay said, before they could ask.

"We also noticed something else. The sand."

"Sand?"

"It's getting darker. From where we saw, it was turning black..." A painful memory of her grandfather revisited Zafrina, but then she remembered what he had said. Circe lived in a place where the sand was black... "We're almost there." As Bay and Finn discussed the direction, Zafrina heard the hissing inside her pocket again.

 _How can you stand the sight of -_

 _"Leave me alone!"_

"Huh?" Melody's bewildered look told Zafrina she'd accidentally said it aloud.

"Nothing! Just - just take this thing!" Zafrina shoved the casket towards Melody, who, startled, accepted it.

"What's wrong?" She shoved it into her bag.

"What do you think?" Zafrina snapped. This time, the boys noticed. Finn instinctively moved closer to Melody.

"She only asked -"

"Finn, just, don't." Bay, looking extremely fatigued, came between them and Zafrina, a little closer to her than to them. The two couples looked at each other for a moment in awkward silence. Eventually, Finn sensed the danger and broke it.

"Come on, then." Finn shook his head, pulling Melody by the hand. She followed, looking towards Zafrina with an anguished look, unable to understand her but too afraid to ask. Bay placed his hands on Zafrina's arms.

"You know I'm on your side. But why are you so angry towards them? I don't understand..." Zafrina didn't answer, just relieved to be rid of the stone, so it no longer whispered irrational thoughts into her mind.


	26. A vision

**_I'm sorry this took a little long, but my final exams are in a few weeks and I'm loaded with work. I'll do my best, but it'll probably be matter of uploads every one-two weeks, as opposed to every week._**

 _Two days later_

The iceberg reminded Melody of a simpler time, when she had been only twelve, where Morgana was the most dangerous thing in the sea. But she had had no idea. She sat on the chunk of ice, running her fingertips through the light dusting of snow that had settled on it. What on earth was she going to do about Zafrina? Icarus had been dead for almost four days, and although she was beginning to move through the stages of grief, Zafrina was far from her normal self.

Her anger towards Melody had cooled, but there was still resent. She didn't snap at her every five minutes, it was more so blunt and cold. Melody supposed that it was a lot better than Zafrina subtly insulting her whenever she got the chance. Finn and Bay seemed to be getting on better though, but Melody was still struggling to restore her relationship with her cousin. Zafrina had given her a little hope earlier, by asking her if she'd come with her to investigate something. But it wasn't the same.

What was she even doing on this iceberg? She should be helping them find Circe's hideout, not staring into space, watching a few seals on a distant chunk of ice. They'd reached the end of their route, and the sand was now black, as Triton said it would be. They were searching a lump of rock for any signs that someone might live there. Melody had strayed, distracted by the first floating piece of ice they'd seen.

Her head turned slightly towards the casket which lay in her hand. There it was again - a sound. Not the manipulative voice that tormented Zafrina, as Melody was unaware of, but a strange high-pitched sound, like the splintering of ice. The jewel itself seemed to fall dormant, the light dimming at night, before glowing during the day, as though it fell asleep and woke again. It was like there was something inside it, like a...

Melody opened the casket and took it in her hand, where it's glow was bright this time. Without thinking, a fleeting wish crossed her mind, like it had done when she'd wished to see Finn's dreams. Immediately, the jewel glowed, and Melody released a startled gasp as her surroundings disintegrated like sand, like it had that time.

This time, she wasn't inside Finn's mind. It felt much more real - a place she'd seen, recently. Melody looked around, noticing movement in the corner of her vision, brought to reality when she heard heavy clanging. Something crouched with its back to her, hammering a sword with a large stone - without success, it seemed, with the pile of broken rocks beside him. The creature turned to face her, sensing a presence, and when their eyes met, Melody went cold.

"What..." she stuttered. Something told her who it was.

He was the creature on the cover of the fake book. There was no doubt. The skin, deathly pale with a bizarre translucency and sickly yellowish tint, with gills in his neck. His hair was white, the eyes a piercing - and startlingly familiar - yellow. The reptilian hands had a large metal claw on the right thumb. The other fingers ended in genuine claws. Beginning from the sternum and running diagonally across the collarbone to the top of the left shoulder, there were three long, ragged scars, with another slicing into the cheek. He stared at her, a rock in hand, where he'd been trying to destroy a sword. There was a burn on his arm - it resembled the same kind of scar left by the trident's beam...

Finn noticed Melody's light red fins dropping into the water. He briefly considered knocking the ice to give her a little scare, but he could see a yellow glow through the relatively thin chunk of ice. He broke the surface, but what he saw alarmed him. "Melody?"

Lysidus saw the Abraxia stone in her hand, and without warning, he lunged towards her. Melody raised her hands to shield herself, but Lysidus went right through her. She spun round, facing him. Yet as he stalked back towards her, she knew he couldn't hurt her - she could still feel the iceberg beneath her. He didn't say anything, mesmerized by the stone in her hand, and she flinched away as he reached for it, even when his hand harmlessly phased through it. Realizing she was intangible, Lysidus shoved the sword, almost protectively, into his tattered cloak. Before it disappeared from view, she noticed red, eerily glowing stones embedded into the black. He'd been attempting destroy it, why?

"What's going on?" The question escaped from Melody's lips. Lysidus appeared confused, but not as much as she was, somehow. He gave her a strange look, as if plotting how this would benefit him. He said it coolly and smoothly, as if he'd been prepared.

"So. Have you been tinkering with my stone?" Melody twitched, unsettled by his voice. It was smooth, yet cold and - somewhat familiar, as if she'd heard it before. She stared at the aquademon before her. She tried to think of something.

"We're about to find Circe. You've lost..." She tried to sound brave, but he didn't look afraid at all.

"Have I?" Lysidus circled her like an orca around a seal. "Your little group is falling apart at the seams. Your cousin is in turmoil over a silly accident you caused." Her initial thought was how Lysidus could know about their conflict, but the mention of Zafrina shook her more.

"It wasn't my fault! Icarus made the decision. If I didn't do anything, Finn would be dead..." Wait. How did he know about Icarus, too? Her heart started to race with fear at how nothing seemed to add up.

"You won't win. I'll get that stone if I have to kill every single one of you to do it." Lysidus came closer, but Melody was assured that he couldn't touch her. Yet that didn't mean he couldn't hurt her. "It's a shame about your grandfather. I would have liked to have seen that, or been the one to do it. How much did your grandfather tell you about the war?

"He told me enough." Melody said, bitterly. "You killed my grandmother's family, and countless more. You tried to kill my entire race with that stone, and if it weren't for -"

" _Your_ entire race?" Lysidus laughed. "Look at you, pretending you're something you're not, with that human blood that runs through your veins."

"How could you possibly -"

"Your precious grandfather has more blood on his hands than he'd be prepared to tell you!" Melody couldn't hear anymore, but it was here she heard her name being called - Finn.

"Melody! _Melody!"_

Her grasp tightened around the stone and then Lysidus and their surroundings vanished. She was back on the iceberg, laying flat on her back, with Finn above her, where he'd been shaking her. His eyes flooded with relief. "Thank goodness!"

"Finn?"

"What _happened_ to you?"

"What? What was I doing?" Melody was so confused.

"You don't know? You were laying here in a daze! Talking about the stone and Icarus..." Melody clung to his arm, shuddering as she realized, but it was more so from what she had just seen.

"I saw him. I saw Lysidus..." It took Finn a few moments to register what she was saying, before his lips parted in silent realization. Melody looked at the stone in her hand, hearing Lysidus's voice still filtering through, but she wasn't the only one.

"I can hear a voice." Finn said. He looked at the stone. Melody frantically shoved it into the casket, and sealed the lock properly - the voice fell silent. "Mel, what is going on? What do you mean, you saw him?" He placed a hand on her arm, searching her eyes. Melody felt drained from her experience.

"I wasn't thinking, I just briefly wanted to know, and it took me there... It glows and doesn't, I just wanted to know why, and for some reason it brought me to him... he was trying to destroy a sword, and I know it was him, I _know_ it was... Finn, it was so strange, he seems to know about us -" Finn's grasp on her tightened slightly, unintentionally, with his fear.

"He knows about us? What are you talking about? How could he know?"

"He knew I was human, that our group is falling apart, he was talking about something my grandfather did..." Melody looked, stricken, at Finn, who looked mortified. "Finn, I'm really scared - I've had this sinking feeling over the past weeks. Things my grandfather was telling us. Some things don't add up, he left things out, I'm sure of it. You don't think it's a bit strange, how he wouldn't tell us why the aquademons were dying out? Who put them away, why Circe never showed up after who knows how many years?"

"Melody, I don't think that's important right now..." in truth, Finn didn't want to know. He had a terrible feeling that the truth was an ugly thing buried. "You saw Lysidus, in person. Where was he?"

"...oh, no. It was... It looked familiar. Like we've seen it recently." Melody realized the weight of her words. Finn had dug his hands into his hair.

"Of course, they can move faster than we can... oh, no. Melody, we have to get moving. We have to get this stone to Circe, and destroy it. Before he finds us -"

"What's going on?" Zafrina startled them. Her head and shoulders appeared in the water just below the chunk of ice. "Having a rest?" Her voice wasn't very light-hearted or teasing. Melody looked at Finn, heart thudding - would he tell her? She hated keeping things from Zafrina, but if she found out she'd used the stone to see Lysidus in person... Finn looked as though he might, but Zafrina lost patience. "Don't bother. We've found the entrance." As she disappeared below the surface, Melody and Finn glanced at one another. Melody gave him a long look, eyes large and dark - surely, Zafrina would hate her more, knowing she had used the stone. Finn looked back, hesitating, but her look of fear persuaded him.

"Maybe it's best we keep this between us. Afterall, we won't have this for much longer now. And we shouldn't cause unnecessary upset." Finn gave her hand a gentle squeeze, although he couldn't hide his concern. Melody followed him, for some reason, not feeling particularly relieved. The end of Wundagore was a strange place, where the sand turned black, as Triton had told them. But there was something else, something dark and forbidden, almost.

They followed Zafrina to a cave entrance, which, oddly, had been sealed by an ice barrier before Bay had shattered it with Melody's staff. He handed it back to her, lifting a lantern to a carving. It was a language Melody nor Zafrina recognized, but Bay and Finn did, since Nia had wanted her army to be multilingual.

".. _.Good luck."_ Bay glanced at Finn, making sure he had read it correctly. They turned to Melody and Zafrina. "What does that mean? Good luck?"

"...not the faintest idea. Mel?" Zafrina used her more affectionate term for the first time in days. She looked at Melody this time, her eyes not as angry, as this new information and what they faced made her forget about Icarus. Melody shook her head a little, to show she didn't understand either. They looked into the black hole, feeling a deep coldness from within, as if no living soul had passed through it for years. But it had to be Circe's home...

"How do we know it's hers?" Melody asked, for some reason, not wanting to go down there into the blackness. Bay and Zafrina looked paler than usual, they suddenly noticed.

"We opened the entrance. There was a voice, the moment it opened. It said, "Go away." But there was nobody there." There was a long silence.

"Her magic?" Finn asked, quietly.

"...possibly."


	27. The tunnels

They moved down through the tunnel, blind except for the lantern which Bay carried. The boys moved a little further ahead, while Melody and Zafrina brought up the rear.

"Should I open my locket?" Melody tried to be helpful, looking back at Zafrina. "It glows, after all..."

"Melody, no offense." Zafrina picked her way through the darkness, hands on the walls to guide herself. "But in near pitch blackness where I just heard a ghost or a spell telling me to 'Go away', the lullaby that comes with it might sound a bit creepy." Melody went to protest, but then she played the lullaby in her head, thinking of the darkness and the coldness of the underwater mountain.

"...you have a point." Her hand moved away from the locket. "What about the -"

"Not the stone." Zafrina hadn't heard the voice in a while, and she desperately didn't want to hear it again. "Every time we use it something dreadful seems to happen."

"Was saving Finn's life dreadful?" It slipped out of Melody's mouth. "I'm so sorry, I wasn't thinking." She stiffened, preparing herself for another argument, but Zafrina, shockingly, didn't retaliate.

"...whatever." Zafrina was aware that they were hanging by a thread and now she was trying to mend it, because of course, she loved Melody more than anything despite what had happened recently. She said, tiredly, "Let's just get this stone back to her so we can wrap this up and go home."

Melody went ahead of Zafrina, a little hope rising inside her, that her cousin seemed to be feeling better. Could they be returning back to the way things were? Could it be that the idea that the journey's end was almost here, was helping Zafrina? They could relax after this - they could be no longer stressing about Lysidus catching up to them, and at ease knowing that their future was secure with the stone destroyed. It was going to get better.

Slowly Zafrina was beginning to accept the accident, since the voice that put her on edge had been silent since she'd passed the casket to Melody. _It wasn't my fault... if I hadn't done something..._ Melody was correct, that she was relieved by the fast approach of the end. They could finally escape, go home to Atlantica, so they could be back where it was safe, warm, and she could be reunited with her parents and her sisters. They could go back to how things were and forget all of this.

It was here they noticed how dark it seemed to be. The lantern was a glow on the walls, where the tunnel ahead turned to the right. They hurried ahead to catch up with the boys, before they entered a wider chamber. At first they were excited - was this it? Had they found Circe?

No, the room was empty, although there was something off about it. There were green jewels running in lines across the walls, luminous, like the Abraxia stone, but green. Coldness settled over the room. There was an atmosphere about the place, as if things had gotten even more... magical. "Boys?" Zafrina asked, uncertain about it. There were two tunnels.

"I don't know what it is... I've just got a weird feeling." Bay especially hung back, and Zafrina looked at him with a frown, about to ask, but then she felt it too. As if, they shouldn't be here. Or they weren't wanted.

Finn moved toward one tunnel. "Maybe we should split up. Two go through one, two the other..."

"That's a terrible idea." Said Zafrina, frankly.

"Maybe not..." Melody ventured toward the left one. "What if one of them's just a dead end? We don't know how long these tunnels go on for. It'll be a lot faster."

"And a lot more dangerous..." before another argument could begin, there was a distant sound. "What was that?" Zafrina looked around uneasily, but it then the walls started to shake. "What's going on?"

"Get down!" Finn cried out as rocks started raining down, and then screaming filled the tunnels, as they realized - they had no where to go. They were trapped who knew or far below the seabed, in darkness. In the chaos, Bay blindly grabbed an arm and pulled whoever it was to the far wall, where they crouched as the rocks fell. Zafrina, who saw only Finn and wasn't thinking, leapt forwards, sending them both flying into the left tunnel. It continued for a few moments, before slowly, it started to fade.

Finally, the shaking ceased. Ancient dust clouded around them, and it took a few moments for them to regain their senses. Bay and Melody were coughing, swatting at the dust, covering their mouths with their cloaks. In the tunnel, Finn and Zafrina lay a few feet apart, delirious. Zafrina lifted her head off the floor, muttering. "Ow..." she felt bruising on her ribs - she'd felt a stone strike her as she'd jumped towards Finn. Finn himself was curled in a foetal position, still covering his head.

Zafrina crawled a few feet closer before shifting into a sitting position, her hand pressed against her bruised side. "Finn -" She coughed as dust filtered through the tunnel. She covered her mouth, blinking at the wall of rubble that filled the tunnel entrance. "You alright?"

"I'm fine..." Finn propped himself up on his elbows, a little shaken. He had hit his head, so he struggled, a hand holding the back of his neck. "What happened? Another earthquake?"

"Maybe... but it looks like we're stuck." Zafrina looked up at the wall of rock, before remembering. "Bay, Melody! Are you okay?" Zafrina shouted through the stones. All they saw through a gap was dust, but then they heard coughing.

"We're good! Just about!" Melody came up to the gap, her black hair filled with dust, while Bay emerged behind her, waving his arms to try and clear the water of it. Apart from a scratch on Melody's shoulder, they seemed unharmed, to Finn and Zafrina's relief. Melody reached through the gap, and as he was closest, Finn reached up to take her hand, to show her that he was alright. Zafrina looked through the gap at Bay, who helplessly looked back, as he took in the damage.

"You're both trapped!" The gap was enough to see through and frame a face, a pile of rubble separating them.

"Don't worry... we'll figure it out. If we shift some, there should be enough room for us to get out -" but as Finn reached towards the rocks, there was another shudder. The group froze, and almost immediately, the shaking stopped.

"It's unstable... moving the rock will make it worse." Zafrina backed away from the partially sealed tunnel. "Alright. If we're separated, we might as well look while we're stuck. Me and Finn will investigate this tunnel... it looks more stable down there."

"Zafrina, are you crazy? You don't know what's down there -" Bay tried to protest.

"Well what else is there to do? Sit here waiting for it to collapse? Look, if push comes to shove, you can -" Zafrina hesitated before saying it out loud. "You can use the stone to get us all out. Alright?" Bay and Melody hesitated, and Finn didn't look thrilled at the prospect. But eventually it was the best they could do.

"Okay. Look, take the lantern." Melody pushed it through the gap, and Finn took it.

"How will you see?"

"Well, I'm sure the stone can give us some light." Bay said. Zafrina stiffened and retreated a few feet at the statement, and Finn noticed this with a frown. "It's better than nothing." They started to move back from each other, as Finn and Zafrina turned towards their only route, and Melody and Bay moved towards the more stable part of the cave. "Well check out the other tunnel while you're there. If we don't meet back up within an hour, we'll use the stone to find you guys."

"Alright. A decent, somewhat dangerous plan." Zafrina said, and Bay gave her a smirk. She smiled back, before turning and heading down the tunnel. Finn briefly looked at Melody, who returned the expression he wore; it was a dangerous plan.

"Be careful." Melody blurted out when he turned away.

"I'll be alright. Don't worry."

Melody and Bay were half way down their tunnel when they realized. "Wait. Why didn't we just use the stone to safely move the rubble? Or take us straight to Circe?" Melody came to a halt, and groaned out loud.

"Why didn't I think of that?" But it was too late - Zafrina and Finn were well inside their own tunnel, and they wouldn't hear them. "We don't plan very well, do we?"

They needed a better plan, as they were about to discover. The tunnels weren't empty.


	28. Magic tricks

As it turned out, Melody and Bay didn't need the stone, and Finn and Zafrina didn't need the lantern - as they'd moved further, more of the magically glowing stones lined the walls, casting soft green light. While Zafrina and Finn moved down their tunnel, swinging the lantern, Melody and Bay investigated the other. They'd expected it to lead to a dead end, or a storeroom for something, but it continued down into the underwater mountain.

Bay, remembering the ghostly voice that had warned them at the beginning, was on edge. He jumped at every sound, and that made Melody nervous as well. "Sorry."

"It's fine to be scared." Melody replied, trying to distract herself from her own fear. Her hands shook ever so slightly, her staff poised - she held it forwards, as if preparing to strike at something. It wasn't the only weapon they had between them - Zafrina's bow and arrows had been abandoned after the accident, and they had taken the lantern, which Bay had used as a weapon.

Melody and Bay did have the stone, but Melody was starting to realise the danger of it. She tried to forget Lysidus, but she couldn't. Her heart still pulsed with tension and fear after the close encounter, but she didn't understand. How had it happened? She hadn't asked the stone to take her to Lysidus. It shouldn't have done that.

It was so easy to make a mistake - when she'd entered Finn's dreams and she'd been taken to Lysidus himself... the thought crossing her mind had been so fleeting. But then... she'd only wanted to know why the jewel's glow was bright one time, and subdued at others - mostly at night time. How was the glow relevant to Lysidus himself? How was that the answer?

She was stirred from her thoughts by a sound up ahead. She came to a halt, and glanced towards Bay. "Did you hear that?" Bay shook his head, but ventured forwards. Melody followed him into a room - she felt her tail fins brush something. Plants? In the cold and darkness?

 _This doesn't feel right._

"Are there plants down here?" Bay asked, in confusion, for he saw green vines crawling across the floor. Melody's skin began to prickle with unease - that magical feeling, that dark magic feeling - was present in the room.

She saw movement - she almost laughed at what thought entered her mind, ''At the impossibility of it. "For a moment, I thought I saw -" Then a dark green thing leapt from the wall and latched onto Bay's wrist. "What the -" Melody sprang back in shock. Bay didn't have time to react as more vines leapt from the ground, seizing him by the tail and dragging him down, snaking their way across him. _"Bay!"_ He cried out in terror and confusion - the plants weren't alive, like Ursula's tormented prisoners - they were simply _enchanted._

"Melody, help!" Bay screeched as more of the horrifying plants came to life, wrapping around his arms, his torso, drowning his tail scar from view as they started to drag him towards the ground. He struggled violently to no avail. Melody went to swing her staff, but a vine reached up and seized it, yanking it from her grasp. She cursed aloud as the staff disappeared into the living mat of vines. She couldn't reach him - whenever she reached for Bay, a vine leapt up to grab her. Melody sprang back.

"I'll get help, I'll try and find -" But then she released a squeal of shock as something seized her tail fins. One of the vines had grabbed her, and it was pulling her downwards.

"Melody!" Bay exclaimed, in horror. Melody seized a hook that protruded from the wall, trying to stop the vine from dragging her down to the rest. More of them, distracted by her resistance, started to head towards her. She desperately tried to break free as more started wrapping round her tail. "Get back! Move away!" Bay tried to free himself, but if anything the plants grew tighter. They twisted over him, overlapping his arms and his tail, pulling at his hair.

"I can't!" Melody tried in vain to escape, her grasp on the hook already slipping. Bay didn't respond - he couldn't, the vines tightening around him, trying to smother him. One started to twist round his neck, and then his shouting changed to a strangulated sound.

Completely unaware of Melody's screams and that Bay was running out of air, Finn and Zafrina continued into their tunnels. "Who would want to live down here?" Finn mused. "It's so long. The tremors must be dangerous for someone to live in..."

"Maybe Circe doesn't want to be found. Think about it - she's hidden herself away in the darkest, creepiest part of Wundagore, where it's dangerous and absolutely freezing." Zafrina had her olive green cloak pulled tightly around her. "She didn't respond to any of my grandfather's messages, to the point that he gave up trying."

"I wonder why..." Finn thought out loud. He hadn't spoken to Zafrina in a while, and it felt a little awkward, considering her fragile state after Icarus, and how he'd been stabbed so brutally, which had sent them all into shock. They'd been such good friends before this point. "How are you really, Zafrina? What's happened to you and Melody? She doesn't understand."

"Must we discuss this?" Zafrina tried to evade the question.

"Come on, Zafrina. I may be her boyfriend but that doesn't mean I'll tell her, if that makes you uncomfortable. I just want to know why."

"I don't even know, Finn." Zafrina slowed down. "I've just been so tormented for the past year, and Bay's just been there for me the whole time. Melody had no idea, I suppose I just didn't think she cared..."

"How could you think that? That's ridiculous -"

"I know that now." She tried not to snap. "She didn't know how I felt, I didn't make it clear, and now I look back I realize, that she didn't know. I pushed her away, I know... I've made it worse. And then, when Ravenna told me I hadn't killed anyone under that spell... I felt so relieved. But then Icarus -" Zafrina's voice broke a little and she closed her eyes for a moment.

"It's okay." Finn said, reaching out to place his hand on her shoulder. Zafrina shook him off, but the words were tumbling out of her mouth.

"-and then my worst fears came true and I - I just felt so weak. So angry, cheated, almost! I had a _single day_ of relief before it went up in flames, and that voice has made it so much worse -"

"Voice?" Finn whirled round. "You've been hearing a voice?"

Zafrina blinked at him, at the alarm in his eyes. She hadn't meant to mention it. But the way he spoke, it was more as though he'd made a shocking connection. She didn't deny it. "...after Icarus... I started hearing a voice inside my head - or I thought it was in my head... It was telling me lies, putting all these thoughts into my mind and I just... I believed them for a while..."

"What did it sound like? Did you hear it from the st -" Finn couldn't end his sentence as something made him, as well as Zafrina, stop. She heard him begin to say the 'stone', but the room distracted her and it wouldn't register in her mind until much later.

The chamber felt... cold. As though they'd never feel happy again. Finn came to a halt. "We need to go back. This place feels wrong..." It felt magical. Dark magic, triggered by their entrance into the room, as though waiting for someone to enter if they dared.

Good luck, the entrance had said. Why would they need luck?

"Finn, there's writing on the wall..." Zafrina seized his arm. Finn turned, and saw the same language he'd read outside. "What does it say?" Louder, more high-pitched with panic. "Finn! What does it say?"

"...your nightmares will become... reality." The hairs on Finn's arms and neck raised. He could hear Nia's voice, but this time, it wasn't his imagination. Vibrant green smoke started to fill the room. "Oh, no... Zafrina, we have to go -" but the mist rose to block his way. Finn and Zafrina looked at it in fear. "What is this?" They leapt back to avoid it, and it worked it's way between them. Zafrina was first to come into contact with it, and then she was frozen stiff, staring at something Finn couldn't see.

"No." Zafrina said softly, but not to him. He didn't see what she did. "Please no, not you..." Finn may have been floating right next to her, but she no longer saw him, and Finn no longer saw Zafrina, as the green mist surrounded the pair of them so they were trapped in their own illusions.

Zafrina started to shake. Her eyes started to fill with tears, her lower lip quivering, with her terror. "Leave me alone. Please..." A scarred face loomed in her vision, hideously burned, wrinkled and charred, shiny red. Still healing wounds slashed through his face, filled with the yellow of infection. His lip was split, one of the eyes clouded from the blinding trident light, and his shapeless face was filled with mockery.

"You're dead. This isn't real..."

"You killed Icarus, didn't you?" Otan's voice wasn't what she remembered - it was the one she'd heard from the stone, two of her fears blurring into one. His hands were groping for her neck, trying to squeeze the life out of her, like he'd tried to do in that shipwreck. She cried out and shrank away, trying to escape, but the green mist surrounded her, so she couldn't see, and she was only thrashing against a wall. Otan's face flashed behind her closed eyes, she felt his hands trying to drag her off the floor.

"Please, please! _Get away from me!_ Leave me alone, leave me _alone_...!" Zafrina crumpled against the wall, fingers clawing into the cold stone, and she started to scream for Finn to help her, for Bay and Melody. But Finn couldn't hear her cries. Trapped in the green mist, he tried to escape. But then it was turning red, like the energy his aunt produced. His mother's sister. He saw someone in the corner of his vision.

"Please. _No..."_

Like a hydra rising out of the ocean, Nia emerged from the smoke.


	29. Nightmares and reality

Finn felt an icy hand on his cheek, and then his aunt's aging, sallow, yet eerily beautiful face loomed in his. He tried to claw her hand off him, while his other hand found his mother's knife, which he tried to thrust upwards towards her throat, but her other hand seized his wrist, nails digging into him. He struggled to free himself, flailing in her hand.

"What is this? What's going on?" Finn tried to break free, slow panic starting to manifest inside him. It wasn't her, when she crept at the corner of his vision, when she didn't say a word - she could touch him, he could feel the barb of her nails, and her voice was loud and clear. It was so real. It wasn't his imagination this time, it was magic. The green mist had manifested out of nowhere, and he couldn't hear or see Zafrina. "Zafrina!" He called in panic, trying to get her help, but he had no idea what she was going through. Nia's grip went iron, turning his olive skin white, leaving brands on his flesh.

"She can't help you. Nobody can!" Nia thrust her face close to his, and he heard the clang as his knife came into contact with the metal armour bodice she had worn in life. He tried to free himself again, but she had always been more powerful. Nia flung him to the floor, and he crashed across it, his back jarring as it struck the stone wall. His knife clattered to the ground, and Finn lay on the floor at Nia's fins.

Then another vision manifested behind her. There was a little merboy that looked exactly like him, screaming over Merissa's body. Nia was tearing him away from her corpse, but he held on, screaming for her to wake up, to come back. Her dead eyes fixed on him, cold and empty. Nia was everywhere - slashing her knife across his wrist, getting him into a headlock, forcing him to watch as Bay was brutally beaten by Otan in a training session. He saw her before him, a sword piercing her, as she shattered Melody's bracelet, turning her into a human at the bottom of the sea. He saw an illusion of Melody behind Nia in her helpless human form, legs flailing, her lips turning blue. Nia's voice, as well as Otan and Ontari's, rang everywhere, echoing off the walls.

"Make it stop!" Finn sank to the floor, hands clinging to his head, pulling on his hair, trying to silence the voices. He started to scream for Melody.

Melody strained against the vines, but she knew it was no use. "Bay! Answer me!" It had gone eerily quiet, where Bay had once been. All she saw was a mass of vines, except for a single hand, which was turning white as the vines constricted. She had to act fast, or Bay would die.

A vine snagged on her bag, and Melody seized the handle with her free hand - frantically, she started trying to find the casket. If she could get the stone out...

"For goodness sake!" Melody cried as the handle slipped off her shoulder, and the bag fell into the mat of plants. Now what would she do?

The direction the vines were trying to pull her in... if she let go now, she'd go flying closer to her bag. But then the vines could also grab her arms, and she wouldn't be able to reach the stone. She'd drown in the plants, possibly die - but if she waited, the bag too would disappear and she'd lose her grasp on the hook anyway.

Melody let go of the hook.

Immediately, the vines yanked her down to the floor, and the plants sprang forwards, crawling over her, snaking around her torso and her tail. Melody seized the bag, and started rooting through it, frantically searching for the casket. _Where is it? Come on!_ Suddenly the plants seized her arms, as if realizing what she was trying to do. Melody strained against their grasp, desperately, her heart lurching as she found it, the moment a vine tore the bag from her hands. Her fingers trembled as she frantically tried to undo the casket.

It was here Melody was aware of sharp, biting into her flesh. She released a cry of pain, suddenly noticing thorns, emerging from the plants. They started digging into her - they knew what she was trying to do. The casket snapped and the stone fell out, but it went bouncing across the vine mat. "No -" she didn't get to finish, feeling a vine crawling around her throat. Melody started to cry weakly, as the vines started to envelop her, as she tried and failed to break free.

But then there was a blinding yellow light. The plants shrank back, and Melody could breathe again. Suddenly the vines disappeared, and she fell to the stone floor. Raising her head, she saw Bay laying on the floor, the stone gripped in hand, gasping for breath. By some miracle, it had been close enough for him to grab it. Slowly, he started picking himself off the floor, a hand on his forehead, with white indentations all over his body where the vines had attempted to crush him. Melody, regaining her senses, crawled over to see if he was alright.

"Are you okay?" She asked, frantically. Bay nodded weakly, still struggling to recover. Melody helped him to rise, thinking to herself, how Zafrina was going to kill her if she found out. "I'm sorry, I tried to get the stone sooner..."

"Don't worry about it," Bay tried, but Melody saw the state of him. He'd nearly been strangled, there was light bruising about his arms and his neck. Luckily, since the vines had managed to have such a good over him, their thorns hadn't emerged. But as Melody had resisted... she looked down at her tail and arms, wincing at the scratches that were starting to bleed, from the spiky thorns. Bay looked to be in a state of shock. "Melody... do you mind if I wait outside?" The calmness with which he said these words was unnatural.

"What? Bay, I don't think that's the best idea -" Who knew what more lay ahead? On her own? The plants lay around them, shrivelled, black and very much dead, but what if Circe had laid more enchanted traps?

"Take this thing, please..." Bay pushed the stone into her hand, his fingers trembling. "Do what we should have done from the start. Use this to get to Zafrina and Finn, go to Circe, and then get out of there."

"But -"

"Melody _. I can't_. I can't..." Bay sounded somewhat hoarse, and Melody realised that his bruises were getting darker. The vines had tried to crush him. His arms shook slightly from where he'd strained against the plant prison, and Melody flooded with remorse that she hadn't acted faster.

"...alright. I'll use this to find them and take us directly. We shouldn't be too long -" he didn't let her finish - he tore from the tunnels, so desperate to leave. And then it occurred to her - he hated dark places, especially caves. On their first journey, they'd been trapped in a cave by a giant sea serpent, and it had given him his tail scar, almost killed him. No wonder he'd been on edge - this had only made it worse. "Wait -" Bay didn't hear her apology. What had she put him through?

Feeling almost sickened, by what she had done to him, Melody took hold of the stone, which had the subdued glow once again, before commanding it. _Take me to Zafrina and Finn._ She didn't acknowledge how whenever the glow was subdued, the voice was silent.

Melody found herself in a different set of tunnels, with the green stones lining the walls again, but then the Abraxia stone almost slipped through her fingers. Was that... screaming?

Zafrina was screaming in hysteria. She felt a lump of ice in her belly as she rushed into the chamber the tunnel led to, but all that greeted her was green smoke. Melody coughed as she plunged into it. She called for Zafrina and Finn, but it wasn't them she heard first - it was the beginning of Nia's voice. Before it could form a word, Melody thrust up the stone. The green smoke briefly turned yellow, before it faded to black. The smoke started to drain away, retreating, and Zafrina was revealed first.

Zafrina's screams ceased as her illusion drained away, leaving her collapsed against the wall. Her hair hung over her face as she slowly raised her head off the floor, finding Melody above her, the stone in hand. She shoved it into it's casket and dropped to her side. "Zafrina, what happened?" Zafrina looked blankly up at Melody, slowly raising a trembling hand to her forehead, as if trying to concentrate.

"...I saw Otan... and I heard the voice... It was everything I fear. My nightmares became..." Melody didn't know what voice, but the mention of Otan, and her nightmares, made her come to a conclusion what Zafrina had seen. She drew in a sharp breath as she pulled Zafrina into her arms.

"I'm so sorry, Zafrina, I'm so sorry!"

"I..." A state of numbness consumed her. Melody's voice was fading. She didn't want her - she wanted Bay. "Where's Bay?"

"We... um..." Zafrina slowly looked up, an unhinged look in her eyes.

"What are those scratches on your arms?"

"Look, Bay's okay, but he decided to wait outside. We - were attacked by... living plants."

"Living... plants..." a strange smile appeared on Zafrina's lips, one that put Melody on edge. "Isn't that just grand?"

"...Yeah. It sure is." Melody sat back, confused and beyond worried. Zafrina seemed to be in shock, she was rocking ever so slightly.

"You might want to check on Finn." Zafrina suddenly said. Melody turned, to see the green smoke revealing Finn at last. He was curled in a foetal position, hands clasped on the sides of his skull. She went cold.

"Get out... get out!" He was sobbing, and something within Melody crashed. She leapt across the space between them.

"Finn!" Still though, what he saw didn't leave. He continued to cry out, not noticing her, even as she crouched in front of him, her hands on his face, as she tried to bring him back to reality. "Look at me! It's alright, I'm here, open your eyes! It's alright!" Somehow her voice broke through the mist, and then his eyes snapped open. He was struggling to breathe, his eyes flooded with tears, and pure terror. Very quickly, the hysteria died down, to silence. Finn stared at her, unseeing, as Nia's ghost tormented his mind, hissing and whispering in the background even after the spell had gone. He looked deep into Melody's blue eyes, hoping they'd provide serenity, but they weren't their usual calm. They were unhinged, frantic, as they saw what the vision had done to him. "It's alright..." Melody still said, despite her eyes.

Finn slid from her grasp, leaning against the wall, eyes staring straight ahead. Zafrina lay on the ground, in a dazed heap, her eyes glassy with shock. Melody slumped, her shaking, thorn-scratched hands pressed to her mouth, as she felt it. The horror and guilt of what she and they had all done, causing them all such unnecessary pain. Why hadn't they used the stone to take them directly to Circe?

They wouldn't have had to gone through this. They wouldn't have had to hide from a rockfall. Bay wouldn't have almost been suffocated by living plants. She wouldn't have the bitemarks of thorns throughout her body. Zafrina and Finn wouldn't have been subjected to the horrifying illusions Circe had crafted...

"I'm so sorry." Melody's voice was a broken whisper.


	30. Peripeteia

"I'm sorry. I have to go." Zafrina had barely finished her sentence before fleeing the room, but Melody couldn't bring herself to stop Zafrina from leaving. She didn't have the energy or the heart, to plead for her to stay, no matter how much she wanted her to. Melody owed it to Zafrina to let her escape the claustrophobia of the tunnels, whatever other nightmares lay in wait. She handed her her staff before watching her leave.

Finn had been floating in a nonchalant circle for a while, trying to regain his senses, and now, he had appeared to calm down. Melody hovered in the corner, arms folded, frightened eyes fixed on him. As if breaking out of his trance, Finn turned toward her.

"Let's not discuss it. We'll deal with it later." Finn said, softly, although his voice still sounded like that of someone in shock. Reluctantly, Melody nodded and unclosed her fist, revealing the softly glowing stone. Finn came to her, a hand covering it, and then their surroundings disappeared. The darkness enclosed around them, darker than before - they were deep inside the mountain, and they both huddled close around the lantern. One of Melody's hands wrapped around Finn's wrists as they moved toward the entrance.

"Circe?" Melody almost felt stupid saying it. There was no answer, but Melody and Finn's senses were dialled to eleven - Finn had his hand on his knife, and both of them were in a defensive stance. They slowly entered the dark room, and as they entered, an ancient enchantment was activated after years of dormancy. But it wasn't like the traps - it was merely to illuminate the room. Melody and Finn jolted as green lights manifested, floating in a circle around the ceiling, casting soft green light down on them.

"Well, this isn't creepy at all." Said Finn, dryly, attempting to forget his illusion.

This room seemed to be one of a few, so they separated to search. Melody went cautiously into one room, not sure what to expect, but it suggested a lonely life - this room had a single chair and a desk, with a few parchment sheets scattered across it, collecting dust. Smashed and empty bottles scattered the floor, some with potions still sticking to the sides. A few broken glass shards lay at the foot at the wall, as though they had been violently thrown at it in frustration. It was disturbing.

But Melody was drawn to a cabinet, full of more intact vials. She ran her fingertips along the bottles, which varied in colour and consistency. There were a group of tall thin ones, electric blue, imprinted with a single word: Heal. Curious, Melody didn't consider how she was stealing property, or that there could be anything in the bottles, but she opened it and tested a drop on her hand, where a thorn had bitten in. To her surprise, it immediately went cool, and then her punctured skin knitted back together.

"Unbelievable..." Circe really was an enchantress.

Melody then noticed the desk of parchment, and strayed from the cabinet, the vial still in her grasp. She picked up one sheet, and it almost disintegrated in her hand - it was so old and fragile. Steadying it with her other hand, Melody frowned. There were a lot of scribblings, written as though Circe had been very tired or distracted when she was writing. It was in a language she didn't recognize, but from what she figured, the words and how they were written suggested panic or frustration, a lot of aggressive scratching out of words and drawings. She paused, seeing a drawing of a sword. It looked familiar, with raised stones along the blade. There was a circle drawn around it.

"Uh, Melody? I don't want to alarm you, but..." Melody slowly turned around, to see Finn hovering in the doorway. There was something in Finn's expression that she did not like. Slowly, Finn came towards her with caution, as if to break it to her slowly. "...there's nobody here."

"She's out?" His expression held a worse theory. "Finn..." Finn floated about, his knuckles pressed to his lips, as he did when anxious.

"Look at this place. Nobody's been here for years." Melody blinked and looked around. Dust lay in thick layers. The empty bottles had lichens growing over them, where they'd spent years on the floor, and it was also creeping up the wall. The ink used to write the parchment had gone solid and off colour. There was a certain coldness and stillness about the cave that suggested nothing alive had been in it for a very long time, except for the feeling of magic which lived on.

"I don't... I don't understand." Melody tried to ignore the panic building in her chest, her heart beginning to throw itself against her sternum, as she started to realize what Finn meant. "She's... gone?" Finn closed his eyes, rocking slightly. Melody picked up a stack of parchment paper tied together by a rope. She knew that writing - it was Triton's. Circe had never answered his letters, but on top, there was another letter - addressed to him. But it had never been sent.

Melody tore the seal, and a soft light emerged. She jolted and Finn's knife flew out, but it took them a few moments to realize that it was not real. An aging, yet beautiful mermaid's face appeared. What shocked them was how tired she looked, and above all, sad. _"Hello, Triton."_

"What the..." Finn looked at Melody, and slowly, he ventured forwards. Melody dropped the open letter on the desk, and backed away to view it. Circe stared straight ahead, not acknowledging their presence.

"It's a vision, like... like my locket." The glowing orb Melody saw everytime she opened her locket, this orb wasn't unlike it. It was Circe, without question. She wore a sleeved robe, her tail fins protruding under the hem. Her hair was long and as black as Melody's, with the exception that hers was curly, visible despite the water. Grey eyes gazed at them, full of exhaustion, sickness, and sorrow. Her face was hollow and sunken with illness, and they were looking into the face of someone who had given up.

Circe sounded exhausted, and she spoke with the weight of her heart in her words. _"Triton, if you're watching this, by the time you see it, I will be dead."_ There was a sharp inhale from Finn, and Melody's lips parted. " _I'm so sorry I never responded to your letters. I couldn't bear to tell you why, but now that I'm running out of time, I have to."_ Circe paused, releasing a feeble, sickly cough.

She hadn't lived long enough to send the letter.

 _"I spent many years trying to find a way to destroy that cursed stone. I admit, for the first few years, I didn't put in an effort because..." There was shame in her voice and her eyes. "...I considered keeping it intact in case I might need it, but then I realized the damage it could do and I tried. It took me very long, to create something that was capable of destroying it..."_

 _"So, imagine my horror, when I returned home one day to find my home ransacked."_ The phrase was blunt, and a stillness came over Melody and Finn, as they realized what Circe was going to say. She turned away, ashamed. _"I created a sword. It was powerful enough to destroy the stone, in fact, the amount of dark magic I imbued into it... it weakened me. It had accelerated my illness. But the sword... it was stolen. I spent all that time, for nothing, and it's taken me weeks to bring up the courage to tell you."_

Melody and Finn looked at her, dumbstruck.

 _"A rogue nightling did it. You called them aquademons. You were wrong to call them that, they didn't deserve to be treated the way they were treated. They were people, just like us, and they were hunted to extinction because they were different, all because of a rogue group of them."_ Circe released a little wicked laugh.

 _"The Delorea Massacre? That was unforgivable! Thousands of innocent mermen and mermaids murdered, including Athena's family, from that terrible rogue group. I understand your anger, you were young and stupid, we all were. You didn't listen to Lysidus, he swore he knew nothing, but you assumed that they were all in on it, together. Well, they weren't. I know you realized that eventually, but that doesn't change what you did."_

 _"All Lysidus wanted was to coexist with you and other merpeople. But you joined the campaign! You helped kill as many of them as you could, but by the time you realized the error of your ways, it was too late! Lysidus lost his entire family, his kind, because you and your allies killed them. By then he had become too mad and dangerous with grief to be left alive. He stole the Abraxia stone and he almost killed us all."_

 _"I stopped him, but I was the only one to recognize the tormented soul that he literally tore out of himself."_ Literally tore out of himself? _"I placed him and the survivors under that sleeping spell out of sympathy. I didn't want them to suffer for eternity in prison, and I couldn't use the stone to reverse Lysidus' actions - it had evolved too much for me to control it. But when I die, the spell will end and they will wake up. That's on you. I hope you're happy..."_

 _"I don't know where the sword is. That nightling could have taken it anywhere. The sword is indestructible, so there is a chance to destroy the stone. You need to find the sword and destroy it, Triton. It will end the spell of immortality and the nightlings will resume aging. I know some of them didn't want to live for all time..."_

 _"But Lysidus is too dangerous to stay alive. And he will die with the stone. Of that there is no doubt. It is impossible to seperate his connection from the stone. He must die so the ocean is safe, and so the rest of the nightlings can live in peace. They didn't want this life. It's not their fault."_

 _"I'm so sorry, Triton, I really am, that I couldn't have acted sooner. I was too afraid, selfish and ashamed. The loss of the sword..."_ Circe raised her clasped hands to her lips, closing her eyes, releasing a shuddering exhale. " _When I lost my last chance of redemption, I lost everything. I lost hope, my reason to stay alive, in undoing my actions. I can go on no longer, I can feel myself growing weaker. The end is not far now, and I can finally rest..."_ Circe's lips shook and her eyes glistened with tears. " _I'm sorry."_ Then the orb disappeared, leaving them in darkness.

It took almost a minute for the news to sink in.

"Mel..."

"She's dead." Melody said, softly. "The one thing that could destroy it... it was stolen. It's... gone." This wasn't the only news. The secrets, the lies, the omitting of truth to hide the ugly reality... Melody sank to the floor.

"Melody..." Finn slowly moved toward her, but she didn't react. Her fingers trembling, Melody felt the realization consume her. She didn't understand some of it out of context. She didn't know what the Delorea massacre referred to. Delorea was the kingdom Attina had married into. But their population had always been small...

But she understood the rest. As much as she didn't want to, she knew the rest. Triton claimed that the aquademons were simply fading out and Lysidus blamed the merfolk, but now Melody knew the truth he had decided to omit, out of shame and regret.

There was a reason why the aquademons had faded out. There was a reason why Triton had been evasive.

Lysidus had tried to coexist with merpeople, but they had refused, instead hunting his kind to near extinction. He had descended into madness with the grief of losing his family, so he had fashioned a new one with the ragged group of strangers, who he'd granted immortality with the stone. They didn't even want anything to do with it. Out of the desire for revenge, he'd tried to kill the merfolk. Lysidus was a monster of their own making. And a young and foolish Triton... he had helped with the slaughter of aquademons. Innocent nightlings.

Finn sank the floor beside her, cradling her hands in his own, only able to conjure two words. "Oh, my.."

Zafrina, completely unaware of worser news to come, had finally fled the tunnel, desperate to escape the darkness. She bursted out of the entrance, stopping to catch her breath. She ran her hands over her scalp, pressing hard, looking up towards the ocean ceiling. The sea surface swirled uneasily as a storm buffeted the waves, and the surface briefly lit up as lightning flashed overhead. "Bay! Where are you?" She shouted, desperately, as she descended to the seabed. A shape came hurrying across the sand like magic.

"I'm here!" There he was, floating across the sand, but he knew immediately something was wrong. Zafrina hovered a few metres away, trembling slightly, tears making her eyes glossy. Her lip shook as she stared at him, and Bay suddenly felt a sickening feeling as worry consumed him. She flung the staff to the sand and threw her arms around him, weeping softly. Bay clung to her, surprised, his hand stroking the back of her head. "Hey, hey! What's wrong? What happened?"

And she told him, the words tumbling out of her mouth. All of it - Icarus, a voice which Bay didn't understand, and Otan. Zafrina huddled in his embrace, unable to keep herself together, as he desperately tried to soothe her, nose buried in her hair. "It wasn't real, Zafrina. It wasn't real, it was just a magic trick! Probably just to stop intruders! Ssh, it's okay..."

"No. No. You don't understand. I can't handle it, I can't do this anymore -" Zafrina broke free of his arms, moving a few metres away, thinking irrationally. Bay stared at her, feeling useless, his hands pulling at his hair, a habit that occured when he was afraid.

"Zafrina, it's almost over! Not long from now, they'll come out, and the stone will be gone. And then we can go home..." But Zafrina didn't want to wait. She was tired of waiting.

"You assume that we have to stay?" Zafrina said, loudly and clearly. "That we have to wait for them to come out?" Bay, who was a fair distance across the seabed, turned around. He looked at her, confused, not sure he understood. She looked at the bruising over his arms, where the enchanted plants had tried to crush him, and this fuelled her. "Let's just disappear."

Zafrina looked directly into the silver eyes she adored, her own filled with intent. After what she had just seen, how exhausted she was, she was convinced it was what she truly wanted. "Bay... I am sick, and I am tired. If it wasn't for this cursed journey, I would be okay. We would all be alright! Me and Melody would have been just fine, Finn wouldn't have been skewered, Icarus would still be alive and we wouldn't have had to have our nightmares thrown repeatedly in our faces. I haven't slept, and I spend every waking moment afraid that someone will come for us. But now that it's over, we can leave. I want to escape, and I know you do too. Why don't we make our own way home? Let's get out of here, far away, just me and you."

Bay considered it, longing filling his heart. He wanted nothing more, just her, was all he could ever want. But they needed Melody and Finn... it was wrong to abandon them. They had started this mission together, they had to finish it together.

"Zafrina -" He started to say, before a knife came through his shoulder.


	31. A dark hour

_"Bay!"_ Zafrina screamed, hands flying up over her mouth in horror. Bay barely had time to scream in pain before the assailant seized him from behind and sent him flying, rolling across the black sand. A few red tendrils of blood were left like a trail of smoke, as Bay rolled to a stop, the knife glistening on the seabed. A red mist descending over her vision, Zafrina snatched the staff off the floor and went to throw herself at the figure, only for something large and heavy to throw itself at her. The weight knocked her through the water, sending her crashing down down a steep slope and away from Bay and the creature who had attacked him.

As Zafrina crashed to a stop, she barely had time to defend herself. With the staff miraculously still in her grasp, she threw it up to block the sword as it was raised over the head of her attacker, which was female. She expected Ontari, but what she saw was a far cry. She froze for a moment to take in the sight of the terrifying woman. The skin was yellowish, the eyes an unnaturally bright colour, with hair made white with artificial immortality. There were gills in her neck, and the hands were more reptilian than anything, her fingers laden with spiky rings. An aquademon, eyes transfixed and full of the intent to kill.

How was this possible? Just when Melody and Finn had taken the stone to be destroyed, they had turned up to claim what was theirs. _It's over. We're doomed._ Zafrina frantically looked around for the others, but the female and the male attacking Bay were all she had seen. Didn't Lysidus have a whole group? She didn't have time to think, as she rolled away from Corva and leapt off the seabed, frantic to stay out of range of the weapon. Her thoughts whirred around getting back to Bay, but there was no way this attacker was letting her get anywhere near him.

Corva launched herself forward, swinging the silver sword again, with the intent to kill. Despite the danger, Zafrina didn't want to hurt anyone else, remembering what happened last time. She tried desperately to block the blows with the staff, releasing a cry of surprise as the sword grazed her left arm. Still, she only defended herself.

"Fight back!" Corva snapped, but the speed of her attacks didn't allow Zafrina to do it anyway.

A little in shock, Bay struggled to rise, a cloud of blood blooming from his shoulder. His mouth parted in a silent sound of pain, as he felt his body screaming at him. _Knife. Knife. Knife._ He had little time to inspect the wound, as he felt something jab into his ribs and flip him onto his back. Clinging to his shoulder as he frantically tried to crawl backwards with the other arm, Bay saw a face under the hood. Except, it wasn't a merman. He briefly froze with dread.

"Lysidus?"

"No, you fool!" But it was an aquademon. Proximus, and the female, Corva, who Bay and Zafrina did not know. Bay realized with alarm that she, and Zafrina, were missing. He could hear screaming and the clang of metal upon metal from beyond the slope. "But he's grown impatient. We were sent to retrieve the stone!" Bay had only one thought: the stupid Abraxia stone. "Hand it over!"

Bay heard Zafrina cry out in pain from down the slope, and he felt rage and adrenaline coursing through him at the sound, so he didn't feel his own pain quite so much. He seized the end of the metal blade hovering close to his face and he tried to wrest it from Proximus. Not expecting Bay to fight back with his wound, Proximus tried to snatch the weapon away. Bay's shoulder screamed as he was wrenched back and forth, but he held onto the spear. He shoved Proximus against a rock, striking him in the stomach a few times. For a moment Proximus looked as though the breath were knocked from him, and Bay seized him by the hair and flung him away.

Bay immediately turned, intending to race over to Zafrina and get her out of there, but Proximus was barely affected by Bay's punches, leaping off the sand. He tried again to strike the blonde merman, but Bay caught the spear again, inches from his skin. The end hovered perilously over his flesh, Bay tried to push back against the force of Proximus to stop it. The blade dangerously jabbed back and forth, glinting in the dark water.

"We don't have it!" Bay declared, as they struggled for control over the glaive. "It's gone! We destroyed it -"

"Except, that witch has been dead for years!" Proximus announced, with triumph. Bay briefly froze with shock at this news, his head spinning. Seeing that he was distracted, Proximus seized the opportunity and drove the blade forwards - straight into Bay's tail.

Zafrina suddenly heard an agonized scream ringing out. Her head whipped up, with a fragmented gasp and look of horror on her face, as she heard Bay's distant shriek echoing off the stone walls. Then she had a moment of absolute clarity. Suddenly she didn't care about hurting Corva - Bay was screaming. The look of horror turned to fury, her stricken eyes exploding into unhinged gold fire, as her rage consumed her. She cried out in anger and gritted her teeth. She swung the staff brutally hard, crashing it against Corva's temple and sending her flying away. Zafrina went springing through the space.

On the floor now, Bay continued to scream as the blade went deeper into his tail, his head thrown back in agony. Sadistically, Proximus twisted the weapon, causing Bay to writhe and shriek even more. Zafrina came racing into view, the staff abandoned, with the sword which she had stolen from Corva. Her eyes blazed at the sight of Bay on the ground, what the creature was doing to him.

"Leave him alone!" Proximus looked over his shoulder, looking more annoyed than anything, but then he saw the fire in her eyes, how she looked ready to kill. Zafrina rushed towards them, rapidly closing the distance. The aquademon ripped the blade out, producing another anguished, weakened cry from Bay. There was so much blood in the water, and Bay's eyes slipped open and shut as he struggled to stay conscious.

"We'll be at the Black Ridge." He had seized Bay's twitching form - with his two terrible wounds, Bay barely put up a fight. Then Proximus had a hand in his cloak. For a moment, Zafrina wondered where she had seen it before. Purple sand in a glass bottle... the chain torn where it had ripped from Ontari's neck...

 _"No!"_ she cried, lurching fowards, but Proximus swung the spear handle and hit her in the side, sending her flailing across the sand. With an explosion of smoke, Proximus and Bay were both gone. There was the repeated sound of the smoke manifesting as he went to collect Corva, and then again as they disappeared. Zafrina was alone. She lay there in shocked silence, mind failing to register what had just happened.

It wasn't the first time in her life that Melody felt lost, but now she knew what it meant to be hopeless, as she still sat on the floor. Finn cradled her hands, eyes closed. The weight of the letters from Triton was as heavy as her heart.

It was all for nothing. This bone cracking journey, that had lasted weeks, the dangers they'd faced, the horrors and the enchantments that had mentally crippled Zafrina and Finn - it had all been for nothing. Circe had been dead for years - her letter to Triton was dated about ten years earlier, when Melody would have been eight years old. The one thing that could destroy the stone was lost. They couldn't get rid of the stone. It was only a matter of time until Lysidus tracked them down...

And worst of all, the corruption. Triton, the kind, merciful and wise sea king, had taken part in the campaign to wipe out the aquademons when he was young and not thinking straight. Lysidus was a monster of their own making...

"Get us out of here..." Melody whispered, her skin crawling, feeling sick. "Let's just go to Zafrina and Bay." Finn nodded slowly and took the dimly glowing stone, and then they were out of the mountain and on the sand. At first they were confused, for Zafrina and Bay were no where in sight. Then a glint caught their eyes. One of Zafrina's hands lay outstretched, gold bangles glistening in the faint light. She lay there, a terrible slash on her arm, a sword laying a few feet away, a bruise blooming on her side, and Bay no where to be seen. But the water a few feet away seemed to be tainted red.

"What in the world - Zafrina!" They dropped to her still form, but she wasn't unconscious - she was propping herself off the sand, staring at the misty red water. They both helped her sit up, urgently asking what happened. Zafrina looked at them, the initial shock fading somewhat as Bay's name fell from her lips.

"Bay..." she stared at a patch of sand. "Bay!" Melody and Finn looked toward it, then Zafrina bursted out of their grasp, pacing across the sand. "They took him! They stabbed him twice and they took him!"

"They what?" Finn leapt off the ground _. "Stabbed?_ Who?"

"Two horrible creatures! Aquademons!" Melody's heart sank.

"How did they get here? It wasn't -"

"No, it wasn't Lysidus! No, I - I don't know! Well I do, one of them had Ontari's necklace! That must have allowed them to come and go!"

"Lysidus must have sent them. Oh, this is bad... this is bad!" Finn's voice rose in panic. His best friend was terribly injured and missing. But then Zafrina noticed the stone in Finn's hand, and she went rigid. Melody briefly took notice of how the stone was suddenly glowing brightly again.

"What do you still have it for?" Zafrina was understandably going hysterical, frantic for Bay. "Why didn't you destroy it? They attacked us because it still exists! Where's Circe?"

"Circe is dead!" Melody shouted. "And the weapon she made, stolen, ten years ago!" Zafrina's mouth clamped shut. She stared at Melody.

"...are you trying to tell me that we came all this way... for nothing?" Melody and Finn couldn't conjure a word. Zafrina turned away, her nails digging into her palms. There was a long silence. Then her voice came out, like granite, with her anger and frustration. "Get the stone out. Take us to Bay." Finn tried to. A few moments passed. Zafrina whirled round. "Hurry up! He could be dying!"

"It's not, it's not -" the stone glowed more fiercely than ever, but nothing happened. Finn looked frantically from Zafrina to Melody. "I don't understand. It's not working!" Zafrina snatched it away, nails grazing Finn's palm. But when she tried, nothing happened either. She stared at it, and it continued to glow, as though it were mocking them.

"What's going on? It's not temperamental!" Nobody could think of an explanation. Losing patience, Zafrina threw the stone back at Finn. "Fine! We'll have to swim! They said they'd be at the Black Ridge. Where's that?" Melody rummaged through her bag, finding the map.

"It's that way -" Melody had barely finished when Zafrina had tore away. Grabbing her staff and Finn's hand, they rushed to keep up, shouting a plan to each other on the way. Melody swam as fast as she could, desperately praying, that Bay was still alive.

* * *

There was a new stab wound in Bay's arm, when he'd initially tried to get away - after that he had no fight left. He lay collapsed on the floor, glazed eyes on the ceiling. He could vaguely hear a slight snipping sound about his head as well as giggling, and he groaned, shaking his face. "No... no..." he mumbled, unable to see but knowing what they were doing, too weak. His mind felt as though it were disconnecting from his body. He was floating on the highest cloud, drowning in the deepest ocean. He was empty, bleeding so much that he could no longer think clearly. He thought of Zafrina, Finn, Melody, but their features also seemed fuzzy.

 _Hold on... just... hold on..._


	32. Lost and bleeding

The black mountain finally came into view after almost an hour of the fastest swimming of their lives. As it appeared, they finally stopped to catch their breath. Melody, the weakest of them, clutched her side, and Finn let her lean on him for support, himself gasping. Zafrina, coursing with adrenaline, was not as tired but she still struggled to breathe. As she recovered, in her determination, Zafrina started running through the plan.

"Let's go back over the plan. You create a distraction, I'll find Bay. Are we clear?"

"We'll lure them out... and we'll give you as much time as you can to get Bay out of there." Melody drew in long breath, relaying it to her. Zafrina nodded and turned away, facing the mountain. Melody paused, remembering the vial she had taken. "Wait! Take this."

"What is it?" Zafrina turned, a little impatiently. Melody pressed a blue vial into her hand.

"I found this in Circe's lair. It heals wounds - use it on Bay. Hopefully it'll work."

"Thank you," said Zafrina, softly, as she remembered how hurt he was - then panicked, however, as she realized how much time had passed since then. The tail didn't contain so many vital organs, but the wound was deep, and there was the knife that had passed all the way from his back to the front of his shoulder... the blood loss, there was so much blood in the water... _Stop thinking about it! He's a survivor! He's survived much worse!_ History seemed to have repeated itself - it wasn't the first time Bay had been terribly wounded and held hostage.

"We'll stall them as long as we can." Finn picked up the sword which Zafrina had retained. "Take my knife just in case." He expected her to be hesitant to take it, but to his surprise, Zafrina took it without hesitation. She was determined to get Bay back. "Alright... we'll draw them out, and when they're here, you go in." Zafrina nodded and then she swam across the sand, hiding in the shadows of a boulder. Finn glanced nervously toward Melody, but she appeared to be more anxious than he was.

"What's wrong?"

"Be careful." Melody's hand slid into his. Her eyes kept moving to his belly, and he remembered what Ontari had done. If the stone still failed to work this time...

"At last!" A voice barked. They looked up to see two figures descend from the cave. Melody looked frighteningly at Zafrina, who moved closer immediately from her hiding spot. _Not yet!_ If she came out now, they would see her. Melody and Finn's grips on the staff and stolen silver sword tightened.

They moved backwards across the black sand, to give Zafrina more room to get to Bay unseen. "What was our plan, exactly?" Melody asked, as the aquademons sped up.

"Distract them."

"..distract how?" The aquademons were approaching more rapidly. Finn slowly started to realize the hole in their plan. Fight them? They both carried glaives. Sing a ridiculous song and put on a show?

"Yeah, I didn't think about that..." For a moment they watched the two aquademons come closer. Then... "Go!" Finn yanked on her hand and Proximus and Corva launched themselves after them as they turned tail and fled, drawing them away from the underwater mountain.

Zafrina stole the opportunity and rushed up the mountain slope until she reached the cave. For a brief moment she stopped herself, turning to watch Melody and Finn, where the distance was closing between them and the two aquademons. For a moment she was torn, but then Zafrina shook herself and entered the cave.

She could hear her breath rush in and out of her lungs. She stooped, discovering Ontari's necklace on the floor, and as she pocketed it, she surveyed the disaster. What happened? The cave was a mess. It looked ransacked, the belongings of the aquademons scattered across the floor - there had been a struggle. Had Bay put up a fight? That had to be a good sign. But there was a lot of weapons, she noticed. Knives, a bow and set of arrows, and a pair of scissors. Scissors? A strange choice of weapon, unless it was both for cutting hair and people.

"Bay! Are you here, Bay?" Zafrina called, her voice breaking as she searched the enormous cave, not seeing or hearing any sign of him. Where was he? She kept calling, looking around the huge room, but it was empty. Had they left him somewhere to die, alone? What if he had escaped? How would she ever find him? Then she spun round, holding her breath. She had heard it. A groan.

Melody and Finn were intercepted by Proximus who finally caught up, overtaking them. Melody grabbed Finn's arm, trying to pull him back, but as she turned, Corva blocked her path. "Stay close to me," Finn whispered, behind her, as they floated back to back, still holding hands. Proximus and Corva circled them like orcas, metal bladed spears held horizontal, pointed towards them. Finn extended the sword, while Melody gripped her staff.

"Give us the stone." Corva hissed.

"No," Melody clung to her bag. "We won't let you take it to Lysidus!"

"Would you rather let your friend die?" Proximus taunted. But this reminded Corva.

"...in fact, where is your other little mermaid?" Melody and Finn's hearts sank as she motioned to Proximus, turning and tearing back towards the mountain. Proximus lunged toward them, the glaive swinging through the air. There was a clash as the sword struck the metal spear. Melody came away from Finn, scooting around so Proximus was between them, and she started attacking with her staff. Underestimating them, Proximus struggled to dodge the sword and the metal staff. Melody got a hit, in the side of his head - and he was briefly stunned.

"We have to stop her!" Finn turned away, hurtling through the water to follow Corva. Melody was hot on his tail, but as she looked over her shoulder, she noticed that Proximus was following too.

Zafrina moved into the entrance, her heart thrashing against her ribs. Her hands slowly covered her mouth as she saw what they had done to him.

She dove to his side, trembling fingers seeking a pulse. Relief flooded her as it answered her, but it was still feeble under her fingertips. "Bay! Can you hear me?" His eyelids were flickering faintly, but his face was drawn and pale, almost white, and he didn't respond. Zafrina looked at his shoulder, at the slit where the knife had torn all the way through. But his tail was worse. She drew in a shuddering gasp, at the sight of the terrible five-inch gash, that had been ripped into his scar. But there was more. Another stab wound on his left arm, black and blue bruising painted onto his ribs and belly, where his attempt to fight free had ended in Proximus and Corva beating him into unconsciousness.

But... something else. Something wasn't right... something was missing. _His hair._ She flashbacked to the sight of the scissors. There had been a strand of blonde on the floor that she had failed to notice. His hair, which had once fallen seven inches past his jaw, had been slashed. Zafrina couldn't believe it - they'd cut his hair. When Zafrina pulled the hair from his scalp and ran it between her fingers, only four inches could be measured.

"My darling... what have they done to you?" Zafrina started to cry as she took the vial Melody had given her. She lifted it tremblingly to the terrible wound on his tail, dripping generous drops of electric blue into the wound and the scarring around it, moving to his arm and his shoulder. To her relief, the skin started knitting itself back together, the scales on his tail growing back rapidly. She didn't move her gaze from the healing wounds until they were completely sealed, before finally moving back to his face. Although a little colour seeped back into it, it was still pale.

His eyelids flickered open. He looked at her blankly, not recognizing her, still delirious from blood loss. For an hour he had been like this, growing a little delusional as he'd lost more and more blood. Bay shook his face and his head dipped slightly, as he struggled to stay conscious.

"Bay, look at me. It's me." Zafrina crouched next to him, caressing his face, forcing him to look into her eyes, staring desperately into his glassy eyes which blinked at her under furrowed eyebrows - he was confused. Then she felt the rush of Bay's inhale next to her wrists, as he felt her skin on his. Slowly, his bound hands reached to touch her hands, and then her face, almost afraid to believe it. His voice was barely audible.

"Is it really... is it you?"

"It is. Look at me," she said again. For a moment Bay held her face, as if to convince himself that it was real. His hands were so cold as they gently rested against her skin, and then his eyes flooded with recognition of the truth.

"...Zafrina." Bay's voice broke as he realized that it was true, that she was here, and Zafrina started to cry with relief. He looked at her as though she were the most beautiful thing in all of creation, before he broke down, and started to sob into her hands. A wreck, he lifted his wrists where they were bound so tightly, silent pleading in his eyes. Zafrina sliced through the ropes with Finn's knife, before using the last of the vial to heal the cuts where the binding had broken his skin. Then Bay embraced her with trembling arms, weeping into her neck. It was reminiscent of the time when she'd found in him Nia's cell, but this time his face was buried into her throat, and she felt his love, flowing into her skin. She cradled him in her arms, rocking him back and forth.

"Ssh. It's okay... I'm so sorry." Zafrina clasped his head to her, her fingers running through his newly short hair, before placing a kiss on his forehead. He clung to her wrists, weeping softly, too weak to rise. Zafrina pulled back, stroking his scalp. She had to ask.

"Why - why did they...?"

"They wanted to leave a warning, he was going to go back and leave it there..." Bay didn't care about his hair right now. He gave a tiny, half hearted laugh. "...I was thinking about changing it, anyway..." Zafrina laughed for his sake, but then Bay looked at someone behind her, and all the relief disappeared. Zafrina whipped round, and Bay released a soft whimper, the most broken "Please" escaping his lips, for her not to leave him, his hand clinging desperately to her arm.

Corva blocked their exit, glaive in hand, unnaturally bright eyes glistening with sinister intent. Zafrina didn't know how she had gotten there, but she slowly rose, preparing herself to defend Bay with her life. Bay weakly tried to get up, but he was still recovering as Circe's magic worked to replace his lost blood. He weakly slumped to the ground, although he still tried to rise.

Before Corva could move, a figure seized her from behind. It was Finn, sword clashing with her spear. "Zafrina, Bay, go!" He urged, as Corva fought back. Melody, who had come into the cave after Finn, spun round upon noticing Proximus charging through the entrance. Not thinking about anything else, Zafrina put her arm around Bay's back, her other supporting his torso. Bay leaned heavily on her, still somewhat delirious and very weak.

"Come on!" She exclaimed, as they struggled toward the exit, around the chaos.

Melody desperately tried to fend Proximus off, but her staff flew out of her hand and out the cave. She heard the clatter as it bounced down the mountain side. Moving like lightning, Proximus grabbed her and turned her around, one hand wrenching her head back, the other pressing a knife to her throat. Melody stiffened at the sound of his voice in her ear. "Now, you're going to watch him die." He taunted. Melody strained against him, but the knife was drawing blood. She watched in terror as Finn struggled with the more agile Corva. But her hands were free. She reached into her bag, finding the casket, unlocking the latch, praying that it would work this time. Miraculously, it did - Proximus was blasted away. He struck the wall and fell down in a heap.

Several miles away, Lysidus glanced upwards, feeling a stirring.

Corva had Finn trapped against the wall, a knife moving torturously slow toward his neck. Melody took aim at Corva, but then the stone glowed fiercely.

 _"Go on, then!"_ Lysidus goaded, sensing what Melody wanted to do. Zafrina briefly glanced back, thinking she had heard a voice in the chaos, but her focus was solely on getting Bay out. They were so close to the exit. _"Do it!"_ Melody didn't think, as Finn was about to die. She aimed at Corva.

Initially the beam fired at its intended target. But then something happened, as miles away, Lysidus focused all his will. The yellow beam veered off suddenly at an impossible angle, ricocheting in the opposite direction. But not towards Melody.

It was aiming straight for Zafrina and Bay.


	33. Fractured

Zafrina saw a blinding light flash in the corner of her vision, and she looked again over her shoulder. All she saw in that moment was the beam firing towards them, and the stone in her cousin's hand. _"Melody!"_ Thinking purely of Bay, she wrapped her arms around him in an effort to shield him.

There was an earsplitting crack as the beam struck Zafrina and Bay. Light exploded from all angles and there was a scream from both of them as they were launched out of the mountain side. They grabbed each other before they came crashing to earth, but it meant nothing, as the momentum tore them apart and sent them cascading in different directions. Bay came crashing to an abrupt halt when his back collided with a rock. He lay face down, gasping for breath, fingers weakly clawing at the sand as he made an effort to rise. His limbs refused to cooperate, each attempt resulting in collapse, and eventually, he sank into the sand and lay very still.

Zafrina was sent, rolling, rolling, until finally, she tumbled into a ditch and lay there, having taken the full force of the beam. She lay curled in a foetal position, for a few moments, before muttering in confusion. Slowly, she twitched to life, one hand on her bruised hip, the other trying to push her torso off the sand. She groaned, struggling to breathe, aching throughout her entire being. Her head hung like a rag doll's, hair hanging over her face, as she tried to process what just happened.

Corva looked at Melody and laughed hysterically. In this moment, Finn seized the knife from her and drove it into her arm. She released a piercing shriek and fell away, crawling over to Proximus's motionless form. Finn quickly looked toward them, and they were briefly immersed in a golden light, as the stone glowed fiercely - they disappeared. But the stone was no longer in Melody's hand. She hadn't wished it.

This was the last thing on their minds.

"Melody... did you just..." Finn stared at where Zafrina and Bay had once been. The stone lay on the floor, still now, glowing almost innocently. Melody was numb with disbelief, at the horror of her mistake. Mistake? She hadn't aimed it anywhere near them, they'd been _behind_ her... how could that happen?

"I didn't... I don't understand - what have I done?" but then she had torn away, racing down the mountain side, shouting Zafrina and Bay's names. Finn hastily shoved the stone back into the casket and then, miles away, Lysidus was shut out. He raced after her, shouting at Melody.

"Melody! What happened? How did that happen?" Finn couldn't believe it. He was trying to figure out how on earth it could have done that. The stone wasn't anywhere near them! It was as if it had bounced off an invisible mirror.

"I don't know!" Melody couldn't see Zafrina, but she did see Bay face down on the floor, and she froze with guilt and fear. "Oh, no..."

"Bay!" Finn raced past her and dropped to his side, shaking his best friend and turning him over, but Bay was unconscious. He looked at his bruises, but something told him they weren't caused by the blast. Zafrina had taken most of it. He noticed something more jarring - what happened to his hair? Bay's once long locks had been cut short to around four inches from his scalp. He looked urgently at Melody, a confused anger she had never heard in his voice. "Melody, tell me what happened! Now!"

"I just, I told the stone to get her away from you - but it just veered away and -"

Something hard struck Melody in the ribs. She went flying a few metres across the sand, landing hard. Finn looked up from where he held Bay's head in his hands, and suddenly a feeling of danger seeped into the atmosphere. There was a long silence."...Zafrina. What are you doing?" Finn slowly rose.

Zafrina, covered in tiny scratches, floated over Melody, her knuckles white as they gripped the staff. She shook, a dangerous glint in her eyes, the staff raised over Melody, who lay there in shock, suddenly terrified. Zafrina breathed hard, her eyes more fiery than ever. "How... could... you make such a _stupid_ mistake?" Despite her obvious rage, Melody was relieved that she seemed relatively unscathed, aside from the scratches. But her relief dissipated at how enraged Zafrina looked.

"I'm sorry - I didn't mean to -"

"Didn't mean to blast us seventy feet?"

"I didn't - I don't know what happened! It wasn't anywhere near you, it just veered off at an angle and..." Zafrina didn't care for an explanation. She had no time for it.

 _"Look at him!"_ Zafrina screeched, making Melody flinch, extending a hand toward Bay, who was out cold. His bruises, the scratches received from the blast and the tumble across the seabed, and his jarring change of hair. "Just look at him! They beat him into oblivion! They stabbed him three times and left him _for dead_ in that room! And to add insult to injury, they _cut his hair off!_ It was so unnecessary, everything has been unnecessarily cruel, for nothing! And now you've just blasted us out of the mountain! If you hadn't let him go out here alone, if someone had gotten the idea to make the stone take us directly to Circe, if both of you had come out of there a little faster, we would have had a chance against those two -"

"I'm sorry, Zafrina, I'm so sorry..." Melody started to cry weakly.

"I've been quiet for far too long! I have to say it!" Zafrina paced the water briefly, staff swinging dangerously about before she flung it towards Melody, who seized it before it hit her in the face. Finn, too shell-shocked to interfere, retreated from Bay's unmoving form as Zafrina paused in her words to drop to Bay's side and cradle his head in her hands. She looked up at Melody and Finn with angry, tear filled eyes. "We've been on this ridiculous journey for weeks, frightened that each day is the last, waiting for the next ambush, and it's all been for nothing! _You_ were stabbed for nothing -" she waved a hand at Finn who couldn't conjure a word. "I killed someone for _nothing_ , for you, of all people, Melody! You've hardly spoken to me! Its like you couldn't care less!"

"You know that's not true!" Melody cried. "And don't say I don't care! I love you, more than anything! I've tried to help you! I've tried, and I have tried, but you have just pushed me away!" Zafrina shook her head and looked at Bay's face. "You know it's true! It's not entirely my fault! We've just had the worst luck, it's all been a case of wrong place, wrong time! We haven't been allowed to stop and grieve!" Melody was referring to their grandfather. But this made Zafrina more angry.

" _Grieve! Ha-ha!_ It's his fault we're here, you know!" Zafrina got up abruptly. Melody had told her the corrupt truth on the way. "Why did he send us here, on a mission that could kill us? If he didn't have trust issues, he could have sent any one of our aunts or heck, an army would be useful! Why didn't he go himself in the fifty-odd years?"

"He put his faith in the wrong person! He didn't know Circe was reluctant to destroy it! Besides, he thought Lysidus wasn't going to wake from the sleeping spell! He didn't know Circe was dead, she died before she could send the letter!"

"Just stop, Melody! Admit it! You said so yourself. Our beloved grandfather joined in the bloodshed. It's his fault, all of this! If he hadn't tried to kill every last aquademon, nightling, whatever they're called, Lysidus wouldn't have gone insane and tried to do the same to us! And don't tell me he had an epiphany and decided that he was wrong. Just like this journey, it was too little, too late!" Zafrina turned away, hands pressing into her scalp. "I can't do this anymore. It's not fair."

"Zafrina - you know I didn't mean for this to happen!" Melody's voice broke. "You have to believe me! The voice, I heard it, it knew what I was trying to do -"

"Enough." Zafrina slid her arm under Bay's motionless form, her other, Ontari's necklace that she had recovered from the cave. Finn's breath hitched, and he came forward.

"Zafrina, just stop and think for a minute - you can't just go!"

"You deal with that wretched stone. I don't want anymore to do with it."

"Zafrina please -" there was a burst of purple smoke, and then Zafrina and Bay's unconscious form were gone. Just like that, Melody and Finn were alone. Melody extended a hand into the smoke, trying to see if she could still feel them. _They're gone..._ Slowly, she turned back to Finn, who looked blankly at her across the distance between them. He slowly retreated from her, shaking his head. "Finn... believe me... I didn't mean this... I didn't..."

"I... I need to go." Finn turned away and started swimming away. "I'll be back. I just... need to think." Melody was in too much shock to protest or try and stop him. She watched him go, disappearing into the dark. She turned back to where Zafrina and Bay had been and her fingers twitched.

The waves above her turned black, and it was almost as though she were in a purely black space, with the black sand and black water. One of Zafrina's gold bangles had slipped off, and Melody sank down to the floor, wrapping her fingertips around the band and lifting it to her face. She stared into space, lost and alone.

Melody searched for a fragment of hope. But she found nothing.


	34. Drowning in belief

_A few hours later_

Miles away, both physically and emotionally, Zafrina rested her forehead against the cool stone and closed her eyes. There was a mental block in her brain that would have warned her the full implications of what had happened - Melody and Finn, alone with Lysidus closing in. She was too distracted by the feeling of catharsis that overcame her as she gazed out upon one of the towns they'd passed through before entering the isolated area of Wundagore. The sand was back to a lilac shade, there were no more tectonic tremors. A few people passed in the street below as Zafrina took refuge in a cave overlooking the area.

There was a groan behind her and she turned. "Bay?" She breathed. She had left him on the floor, laying him on his cloak, and then placing her own across him. Her cloak had slipped down his torso as he propped himself on his elbows before sitting up, blinking at her in the dark. Zafrina quickly crossed the room and slipped to the floor beside him, pulling him into a hug. When she released him, he seeked her hands, and when their fingers intertwined, Bay gave them a gentle squeeze.

"Zafrina... what happened?" He looked a lot better - colour had returned to his face, his eyes were, although sleepy, more alert.

"How are you feeling?" She asked, stroking his hands. Bay looked around, puzzled by their change of surroundings.

"I'm alright..." despite his bruises, Bay didn't really feel much pain - Circe's healing potion had healed all his wounds, the bruises even appeared smaller. He looked at his arm and his shoulder, and then his tail - his eyes widened. "Look..." Zafrina turned her head, and her hand outstretched. She ran her fingertips across his scales, where once she would have traced his scars. But...

"Your scar's gone." She said, in disbelief, for she had poured the vial all over the area. It had healed it all. Bay's lips parted in a smile as he looked at her, and although she returned it, he noticed it was sombre, too distracted by everything else. She raised a hand to run her fingers through his newly short hair, and Bay remembered, his own hands running through it. He didn't look particularly upset, to her surprise, or if he was, he was doing an amazing job at hiding it.

"You know what? It might take a little getting used to, but..." he took her mirror from her bag. "I don't think they did a bad job, all things considered. They could have done worse... maybe if I just tidy it a bit..." his attempt to lighten the atmosphere failed.

"I'm so sorry, Bay." Zafrina felt her tears come flooding back. "I failed you. I wasn't fast enough... I let that creature hurt you and take you away - I let them do this to you." Her palm inched across his torso, avoiding the bruises across his ribs. Bay covered her hand, gently rubbing his thumb into her knuckles.

"None of this was your, or anyone's, fault. And I'm okay now, Rina..." If anything, Bay barely remembered what happened - his blood loss had meant that he'd fallen into an abyss, and during this time they must have cut his hair. He recalled briefly struggling against them after they'd taken him, but after that, nothing until Zafrina had found him. But even after that, it had gone dark once more. "What happened? I just remember a light..." Then he noticed. "Where are Finn and Melody?" Zafrina bit her lip and looked away. She'd forgotten that he'd been unconscious throughout the whole outburst.

"Melody used the stone but it - backfired." Zafrina's anger crept into her voice. "It hit us instead of the aquademon." Bay blinked in bewilderment and disbelief.

"How could that possibly happen?"

"I don't know. But I was just so angry, everything came tumbling out, I couldn't stop myself... I took you and I left, using this." She held up Ontari's necklace by its broken chain.

"We just... left?" Bay looked confused. "We left them there?" After all he'd been through, like Zafrina, a mental block rose to make him forget about Melody and Finn and the danger they were in.

"I couldn't do it, Bay." Zafrina whispered. "After what happened to you, with no hope and resolution, I... I just couldn't stay. I want you to be safe..." Bay opened his mouth to interject. "You were stabbed three times. Of course I have to worry about you." Bay looked at her with searching eyes, uncertainty in his gaze, clouding his thoughts and judgement.

"It's a relief, actually, that we're away from all of it, for the first time in weeks... just us..." After the trauma of the night, for the moment, Zafrina and Bay were in a mist of relief. A certain happiness grew within them both at the prospect, with having nobody else to worry about, just themselves. Nobody to intrude, far from any ambush now that the stone wasn't in their possession...

"Just us." Zafrina pressed a kiss to his forehead, and when she pulled back, she was aware of how close they were. Bay's gaze was fixed on her, and he remained still as she lifted a hand, fingertips tracing his jaw, settling in his newly short hair, which was growing less jarring. She even... liked it. It softly framed his face, softly falling, with tufts at the back of his neck like ducks' tails. "You know, it suits you."

Bay's hands caressed her face, and she couldn't help but brush her lips against his. Bay returned it with a soft sigh, cradling her head, his silver eyes slipping shut as hers did too, and Zafrina felt safe. A current stirred the seaweed curtain shut, hiding them from the world. A thought crossed her mind, as she briefly wondered if Melody and Finn were alright, but as Bay murmured her name against her lips, all other thoughts dropped from her mind.

 _Later_

Finn had been swimming for hours, not sure what he was doing. He wasn't looking for something, his anger and despair had disappeared hours ago. So why hadn't he gone back to Melody yet? It wasn't her fault. She had only been trying to protect him, after coming so close to losing him the second time. The stone had never failed before, how could she have known it would spontaneously hit Zafrina and Bay?

He understood Zafrina's anger. The ghostly look in her eyes, triggered by the illusion of Otan and Icarus's body, had not disappeared. Everything had come together in a disastrous concoction - the stress, the revelation of Triton's shady past, the illusion, the fact that Circe was long dead and they'd gone through the journey and the enchanted caves for no reason, what happened to Bay - and the blast had thrown her over the edge. Would she forgive them? Would she realize that the blast wasn't Melody's fault?

Finn obsessively tried to find a logical explanation. Melody wasn't distracted in the slightest, it couldn't be her fault. He knew how easy it was to have a fleeting thought and the stone act upon that, after he'd encountered Melody in that trance as she'd spoken to Lysidus - she'd insisted that she hadn't intended to see him. So he could rule that out, as Melody would never think of such a thing to enable it to happen.

It made no sense. Finn replayed the moment in his head. The beam had fired straight to begin with, but halfway across the room, it had drastically changed direction, veering off on a right angle straight towards them - not even a little to the left, as an accident would suggest, but exactly, precisely, for them. As is if it knew where it was going, it's intent to strike Zafrina and Bay.

But that was ridiculous. The stone wasn't sentient. Circe was powerful but surely even she could not have done something like that. But then, the voice? Where was the voice coming from? Circle's magic? She'd used it to create those illusions, and Finn was suddenly reminded of the horrific experience.

"Go away." He whispered. "This is the worst time." Once again, his imagination tried to play tricks on him. Nia floated in the distance, saying nothing, simply staring at him. He seized a rock off the floor and threw it, but it went straight through her. "Why can't you just leave me alone?" He covered his face with both hands. That illusion had been so terrifying, so real. Then it dawned on him.

He had the stone. Finn glanced at his bag and took it out of its casket, but this time, there was no voice, the glow was subdued, hours later. Almost as if it were asleep. He peered into the yellow, noticing a fleck of green, the same colour that Circe's tunnels had. He'd always thought that the yellow looked artificial. He looked at Nia, sick of her, and in that instant, he had an image of his childhood home. The stone glowed in his hand, and before he could stop it, he crossed the miles in a heartbeat.

Finn turned, looking up at the ruins, at the forgotten part of Belixia. At first, he immediately wanted to return to Wundagore. He'd sworn he'd never return to this horrible place. But instead, he put the stone back into his bag, and ventured into his childhood home.


	35. Epiphany

Finn looked up at the ruins, feeling weak. He should not be here, he'd vowed never to return to such an awful place. But he wasn't recoiling in horror or fear - he forced himself forwards.

He looked at the sides of the abandoned street, lined with shacks that had seaweed curtains stirring in the doorways. This place had once been filled with laughter and music. Broken instruments laying on the floor hinted at this time, now crawling with algae and barnacles. Shortly after Nia had usurped the throne, a lot of people had fled, with those who could not escape enslaved to become part of her army. This part of Belixia had been abandoned for Nia's rock tower.

Finn slowly moved forwards into the shadow of the palace. The gold was tarnished and bristling with barnacles, the white stone columns crumbling and turned green over the years. Slants of moonlight drifted down, painting streaks of silver across it, like the essence of a ghost. How long had it been? Fourteen years? He was almost twenty years old, and he hadn't been here since he was five. He couldn't bare to sneak away to visit it during that time.

A tune started to play inside his head, his mother singing softly, as he entered the palace, his fingertips tracing the cracks on the walls as he went. Finn looked around the coronation room, where Merissa was scheduled to have been crowned queen. He remembered the sea of mortified faces as Nia had came barging in the declare her right to the throne. He'd briefly seen the people in the room as a friend of hers had dragged him past it as he had screamed hysterically.

Finn went up and down corridors, searching for one particular room. He didn't want to find it, but part of them dragged him there. He turned onto a familiar corridor, peering into the first room, his former nursery. A cradle lay empty against the wall - Merissa had always been nostalgic, so she had kept his cradle after he'd outgrown it, saying that maybe Finn could use it for his own child someday. This was never to be. Finn and Melody agreed that they wanted children, just not yet, but it was a strange notion, to think that if Nia hadn't been insane, he never would have met her...

Finn finally went to his mother's bedroom and dressing room, shuddering. He entered the room, floating just above a spot close to the dressing table. He reached down and placed his hand on the sand, hearing his shrill five year old voice, pleading for her to stay. Merissa, pleading him not to let Nia change him.

Change him? He had let Nia change him. He felt no remorse whatsoever for driving the knife into Corva's arm, and in the Years before, Finn had been forced to do unimaginable things that would have tormented Merissa. He let Nia invade his dreams and his waking moments. Sure enough, Nia manifested from his imagination, appearing in the entrance of the room. Finn remembered her fourteen years younger, floating in that same doorway, the knife in her hand poised to fly at Merissa's chest. She smiled mockingly at him, speaking for a rare occasion.

"You didn't keep your promise to your wretched mother, Finnley. You have lost. Your group is scattered across the sea, and you spend every waking moment waiting for me to speak, struggling to fall asleep because you don't know whether you'll have a nightmare when you finally do. Pathetic." Finn felt something awaken inside him.

"No, Nia. You haven't won, I haven't lost yet. There's still a chance we can salvage our friendships." Finn expected tears, but they never came. Nia didn't deserve them. "You're right. I did change, I had to in order to survive. I changed because I was afraid of you. But I'm not anymore." Nia's smile started to fade.

"You're not real - you're dead. You're just inside my head, you're not a ghost, you're a memory. I haven't had the strength to realize it until now. I know you were alive, I know the pain you brought to me, and everyone I've ever loved. But you're gone. You defined my past, but I won't let you do the same to my future. You can't hurt me anymore." Then there was only an empty space before him. He closed his eyes as he rested against the dressing table with a sigh.

Finally, after fourteen years, Finn was free.

 _Faraway_

Zafrina lay in the darkness, stroking Bay's hair, her gaze fixed on the ceiling. He slept close to her side, sleeping surprisingly soundly despite the terrible night. Circe's healing potion still seemed to be in his system; his bruises, while still dark, seemed to be growing lighter by the hour. She had slept for a few hours, and even though this shouldn't be enough to make up for her ruined sleep schedule, she felt a lot less drained.

So why was she crying? She had been crying in silence, doing her best not to disturb Bay, but her chest shuddered with her attempts to stop them. Eventually Bay stirred and a tiny sob escaped her lips. "Rina?" He whispered, in concern, propping himself on an elbow, his other hand on her arm. Zafrina would have normally tried to restrain them, but this time the tears came flowing.

"I don't know why I'm crying." Zafrina closed her eyes. "It's just.."

"It's been building up for a while, hasn't it?" Bay seemingly read her mind. "Hey," he murmured, in a gentle voice. "It's been a long journey. We've been through a lot. You've been through so much." Zafrina felt a wall inside her crumble as this time she didn't push him away - she went willingly, feeling safe in his arms. She wept against his chest, completely open to Bay for the first time, as a name tumbled from her mouth.

"Icarus..." Zafrina hadn't forgotten it. Bay turned her face toward his own, finally finding the right words.

"Zafrina. What happened to him was not your fault. It was no one's fault, not yours, not anyone's." _Not Melody's._ "Icarus made a mistake. Your intention was to wound Ontari and he misinterpreted that. You had no choice - it was that, or Ontari would have killed Melody. It wasn't your fault, you acted because there was no other option, and Icarus made his decision - you didn't mean any harm. Don't you see? When you were under Nia's spell - you told me what Ravenna said - you didn't hurt anyone, not really. Nothing you did at any time in your life was out of malice, it was purely to protect yourself and those you love. I know you're strong enough to move on - but do you know it?"

Zafrina remembered that time outside Narcissus and Ravenna's home, when Ravenna had spoken to her while rocking baby Wanda to sleep. She too had said it: no choice. Zafrina had only done it to protect what she loved. And she had succeeded despite the cost. Her lips parted in silent realization. _Not my fault. Icarus' choice, not mine... if I hadn't, someone I loved would have been dead. Ontari and Icarus would have likely killed us all._ Finn dying, Melody about to die, Bay unable to leave Finn's side, Zafrina on her own against Ontari and Icarus? It was very likely they would have all died there.

"I did it to protect what I love..." Zafrina rested her cheek against his chest, a weight inside her heart lifted. After a few moments, she stopped crying. _And yet..._ this wasn't about her guilt - that was accepted. There was something else in her mind. Someone...


	36. Alone

Melody woke to a dark hour, huddled on her red cloak. She lifted her head and looked around the ditch she'd fallen asleep in, before sinking back to the ground and the staring up at the ocean sky, where a few rocking white shapes hinted that the earlier storm was so violent, pieces of ice had been broken off from nearby glaciers. After Finn had left, she had tried to sleep on the night's events.

But now that she was awake, she had found panic racing around inside her head like a caged animal. Not only had he not come back, but she was replaying what happened in her head, feeling terrible about it all. After everything Zafrina and Bay had gone through what could be likened to physical and psychological hell, Melody had ultimately topped it all with the misfiring of the stone's energy that had sent them flying across the ocean.

How could she have been so foolish? _Why didn't I listen to the voice? Why didn't I realize what could happen?_ In that complete moment of madness, Melody had ignored the goading voice that had clearly been trying to get her to fire the stone. It was obvious something was going to go wrong, but Finn had had a knife pressed to his throat, and she was terrified to lose him again.

 _It's my fault. How I could I let this happen? Zafrina's right. All this could have been so easily avoided. Everything has just been the wrong place and wrong time..._

Melody sat up and hugged her tail to her chest, a habit she'd kept from when she used to hug her knees as a human. The implications of what happened started to dawn upon her. Zafrina and Bay were gone, who knew where, thanks to Ontari's necklace. Zafrina hated Melody now - her best friend, who was more of a sister than a cousin, hated her. She blamed her for everything that happened, because of course, if she hadn't fired the stone, if she had spent less time sitting dumbstruck in Circe's lair...

 _I did this._

Suddenly Melody was trapped by the ocean. She had to breathe real air. She rushed to the surface, and she came flying out of the water, crashing onto her hands and tail onto a sheet of ice which scraped her hands. The earlier storm had rolled away, so now light snow fell, freezing against her skin. Her lungs flooded with icy air as she gasped, feeling her panic intensify. She looked up at the cloudy sky, which was swollen with more snow.

Melody was convinced - it was her fault, for Bay being taken, for Zafrina killing Icarus to protect her, the stone misfiring... Her lower lip shook, as she reached into her bag and extracted Zafrina's bangle, which had come loose in the blast. She held the gold in her hands, seeing her eyes reflected in the metal, saw the seamud and scratches on her face. This pointless, painful journey, and for what? Nothing...

"Nothing." Melody repeated into the cold silence. She had never felt more alone.

Melody looked at the bangle, seeing it shudder in her hands - her hands trembled so much, the bangle fell through her fingers to a soft clatter onto the ice. Her eyes pressed shut as for a moment she tried to hold back her tears, trying to think of Ariel and Florian, but this only made her more feel worse. They could never destroy the stone, and with her mother and brother's merfolk blood, what if, if Lysidus cast his killing spell, they were victims too?

It caved in, and Melody suddenly fell apart, tears slipping from her eyes. Her body wracked with sobs, as she curled forwards, her forehead pressed to the ice. All of it - losing who she loved, her most important friendships, and when Lysidus got the stone back to cast the killing spell... everything she knew and loved would all be gone.

"All of this is because of me!" Melody didn't know who she was talking to, as she wept on the icesheet, the snow whirling around her, speckling white throughout her black hair. "It's my fault, it's my fault... I..." her head bowed to shield it from the flurry, and her tears dripped down her face, silvery trails. "I feel so lost." For the first time, Melody felt broken. All the way, she had held onto hope, kept herself together by tendrils, but the threads that she had struggled to sew had finally snapped. The hope was gone. Melody was finally broken.

"Why, grandfather? Why did you help kill an entire race? I don't understand..."

Melody leaned back against a slope of ice, her tears continuing to trickle down her face, remaining there; she was sure they were freezing on her cheeks. Desperate for some comfort, she took the wad of letters Circe had received from Triton but never replied to, comforted slightly that he had once written on the very sheets. No matter what Triton had done to Lysidus fifty years ago, Melody still loved him, even if it looked as though Triton had contributed to Lysidus' descent into madness. A snowflake twirled down, settling on the top letter. It was dated fourty years ago, a few years before Ariel's birth. Rubbing her eyes, read the faded writing.

 _You asked me to explain myself the last time we met, so I will. I don't know why you won't respond to my letters, but if you read this, this is my honest answer. Perhaps you have been waiting for my explanation? I cannot keep the stone here forever, so if there is something I must know, please tell me._

 _I was under orders and misunderstanding when I helped in the killing. I'm ashamed of my past, Circe, and you know it. There were so few of them left, it was easy to think that they were in on it together, that Lysidus was connected with the rogue group that killed thousands of innocents in Delorea. Someone overheard the plans - the rogues were planning the attack, they heard them mention that Lysidus had told them that what they were planning was monstrous. He wasn't involved afterall. But this news was only brought to light too late, after his family perished and he got the stone, where he lost his mind._ The rest of the letter had been torn away, but it was enough.

Under orders and misunderstandering? A little part of her caved in relief - Triton had not helped in hunting down the nightlings purely out of revenge. Not only had he been ordered to - by whom, the letter didn't disclose - but they had wrongly believed that Lysidus was in on the killings. This was the 'Delorea Massacre' Circe referred to? A 'rogue group' of nightlings, who had murdered so many innocent people? Of course, the grief and loss would have blinded them from the truth. Like their own journey, it had all been a misunderstanding... Melody's fingers gripped the fragile page so hard it almost tore, but it wasn't enough to rekindle a little hope inside her heart.

 _Finn..._ she had to find Finn. She may have lost Zafrina and Bay, but she wasn't about to lose him too.

 _Meanwhile_

Zafrina and Bay swam through the street, hand in hand. Several people were giving them odd looks, due to their obvious bruises and scratches. "Ignore them." Zafrina said, when she sensed Bay's anxiety.

"What must they think of us?"

"They'll think we had a fight with some coral." Zafrina replied, mildly. However, she felt him tugging on her hand, making her stop and turn. She came up close, her hands lightly on his sides. "Are you okay? We can go back to that cave, if you want..." She certainly wouldn't mind. "Your hair looks great, if it's making you self conscious." They'd made slight adjustments to his hair before leaving the cave for a swim, so it was a little more styled. Bay was struggling to adjust to it, even if he thought it looked good himself.

"It's not my hair that's bothering me, I just..." Bay gently placed his hands on her arms. "Did we do the right thing?" He asked, uncertainly, the mist of relief starting to clear somewhat. Zafrina blinked at him, her gaze moving to his chest as she retreated into her thoughts.

She had been trying not to think about Melody and Finn. She was starting to rethink her words. She had said some awful things. She blamed Melody entirely and her rage filled self had made sure she knew it. But away now, able to focus in a quieter situation, Zafrina had realized something. In her anger and stress, she had taken it out on her cousin when it wasn't her fault - Zafrina knew that it was an accident. The past weeks, Zafrina had bottled up her emotions, and Melody was right - she had pushed her away all that time, she now realised. Melody had tried to help, but Zafrina hadn't let her... yet her stubborn side rose it's ugly head.

"Of course we did." Zafrina said, but Bay heard an edge to her voice that revealed her uncertainty. She pulled away from him and continued on, with Bay following slowly. They swam on to a quieter part of the town, but this time, Zafrina stopped. She turned around.

"Bay?"

"Yes, Rina?"

"I..." Zafrina tried to remember what she was going to say, her mind a blank slate. Bay looked at her patiently, awaiting an answer. Zafrina couldn't find the words, not out of uncertainty - there was something far more distracting behind him. She released a gasp and suddenly pulled him behind her. "Stay away from us!" Bay looked, startled, before realizing why she was suddenly terrified.

An aquademon had just emerged from a cave, with the unmistakable white hair piled on her head in a messy bun, so that gills on her neck were visible. Her eyes were soft and tired before she gave them a strange, bewildered look. She was young and rather pretty, which surprised both Zafrina and Bay. Weren't they meant to be monstrous? Even the reptilian hands seemed delicate.

"What? You don't even know me..." the female aquademon floated, still looking confused. She backed away, pulling her shawl tighter around her shoulders. Zafrina and Bay were not convinced, believing it to be a show.

"Rubbish! How did you find us?" Bay grew angry, reminded of what had happened to him.

"Find you? Who even are you?" She looked utterly confused and even offended at their hostility.

"Rhapsody?" a voice from inside the cave. "What's going on?" To their horror another emerged, also female. She looked uncertainly from Rhapsody to the terrified pair of merpeople. Not hearing their panic, she looked concerned as she slid her hand into her companion's for comfort and support. "Are you two alright?" Slowly, Bay felt less anger, but more confusion. What was this? Genuine concern? There was something different about these two - they looked more worried than anything, afraid. He didn't see any weapons...

He glanced at Zafrina who was still shamelessly glaring at the pair.

"I don't know, Lokia." Rhapsody replied. Lokia tilted her head at the two merpeople. _I wonder..._ their appearances seemed to match a description they'd been given.

"Your friends attacked us earlier! Nearly killed us!" Lokia looked at Rhapsody, eyes widening, as she started to connect the dots. Urgently she whispered in her ear, and Rhapsody blinked and looked at Zafrina and Bay.

"Oh, no - what have they been doing?" Rhapsody whispered, but not quietly enough.

"I'm sure you know full well!" Zafrina said, accusingly.

"Zafrina, maybe..." Bay whispered in her ear, but Zafrina was in defence mode, still not letting Bay go closer. Luckily the street was empty at this point, so nobody noticed the drama. Rhapsody appeared tired of their aggression.

"Look, whatever happened, it was nothing to do with us. We left Lysidus last week." Zafrina stared at them in bewilderment, confused by this information. "Are you..." Lokia looked at them strangely, trying to match their appearances with Lysidus' descriptions. "Which ones are you? Finn, Melody, Bay, Zafrina?" Zafrina and Bay were disturbed, and made even more unsettled that they knew their names.

"How do you..." Bay looked suspiciously at Zafrina. "How do you know our names?" Rhapsody and Lokia exchanged a look. Could this - could this be their chance, to bring Lysidus down?

"If you're who we think you are, maybe you'd better come inside."

"I am not doing that." Zafrina said, bitterly. The pair gave them a look of irritation.

"Alright. Let's sit down here, then." Rhapsody dragged a rock out from the cave, placing it opposite another by the entrance. "We'll explain everything - we hate Lysidus as much as you do." Zafrina stared at them, speechless. "Please," Rhapsody said, eyes filled with pleading. "We're different from the others. Let us help you - please sit down."


	37. In reality

Slowly Zafrina sat on the very edge of the stone Rhapsody had dragged out, while Bay sat beside. They looked stiffly at the pair, the atmosphere tense and very awkward. This event, the two merpeople facing two nightlings and attempting a civil conversation, was the first to happen in decades.

Rhapsody had a red shawl draped around her shoulders, no ragged cloak in sight, while Lokia was wrapped in a blanket, for she had been awakened by the commotion. They looked lazy and comfortable, both a little dishevelled, with Rhapsody's hair half falling out of her bun, and Lokia's pixie cut spiking in all directions, suiting her dainty features.

Rhapsody took a seat on a rock, while Lokia slipped to the sand, leaning against her tail. What surprised the two merpeople most of all was how pretty they were, contrary to the stories they'd been told. The skin of their tails were like shark skin, although Rhapsody had a lilac tint, while Lokia had a hint of blue. Their eyes, while fiercely bright, were shades of blue and emerald green, with dark areas of tiredness below. These were not fiends of Lysidus sent to hunt down the stone.

The two were unsure how to speak to the anxious merpeople, with the clear suspicion. Perhaps it was safest to give them context first. "I'm Rhapsody, and this is Lokia. We were part of his group in the war... we were under a sleeping spell for fourty years, before we spent ten years awake in prison after Circe died and the spell wore off." Rhapsody absent mindedly played with Lokia's short, spiky hair as she spoke. "It was..." she closed her eyes and shook her head slightly at the memory of madness, and Lokia reached up to give her hand a gentle squeeze. Bay blinked, surprised that both of them appeared sane, after ten years in prison. A little sympathy stirred within them both.

"Me and Rhapsody have always been more attached to one another than the rest," Lokia continued for her. "We were together before Lysidus found us. During the war, when the merfolk started to hunt our kind down..." Zafrina felt terrible guilt, remembering the part Triton had played in that, and she had to look at her hands. "We stuck with Lysidus to survive after the prison break, we thought we'd be safe because nightlings still make people uneasy. But we realized that Wundagorians are more accepting - the perfect place for us to disappear. We didn't want any part of Lysidus' awful plans, so we eventually left in the middle of the night. We haven't heard a word from them since."

"So you..."

"Yes, we betrayed them. We just want to live a normal life." Lokia tilted her head. "Are we right in assuming that you're part of the group taking the stone?"

"As if it wasn't already obvious." Zafrina was very guarded still despite it all.

"Yes then. Do you still have it?" Lokia asked, offering them some food, and although they initially made no move to accept it, Bay accepted it out of politeness. "I can't sense it, so no."

"Sense it?" Bay interjected. "Did that..."

"...yeah, sense it. It allowed us to follow you, unfortunately." Rhapsody sounded bitter whenever the stone was mentioned. "We're latched to it, thanks to Lysidus. He didn't have the decency to inform us that he was going to stop the aging process." It dawned upon Zafrina and Bay that these two were different - they viewed their immortality as a curse. They had no desire to live forever, or for the stone - they wanted it gone. "The gem...?"

"We don't have it, not anymore. We took it to be destroyed -" Bay was encouraged by the sudden look of hope in Rhapsody and Lokia's eyes. "But it's creator is dead, as it turns out." The hope was extinguished - while they'd known that Circe was dead, it didn't stop them from hoping. "Our group... separated, after two of your aquademons -"

"Don't call us that, please." Rhapsody interjected, and they noticed how offended they both looked. Bay glanced at Zafrina who muttered the real word, when it slipped his mind.

"Okay. Nightlings... they ambushed us. They even -" Bay anxiously ran a hand through his hair, trying to say it - even if it actually looked good, Bay missed his long hair.

"Did Proximus cut it?" Lokia asked, to their surprise. It was here they noticed her pixie cut. "He heard me and Rhapsody were thinking of leaving, so he cut my hair in my sleep, warning me not to leave. What a lie - he's a sadist, it's his thing, cutting people's hair. He enjoys doing it, it was an excuse to cut someone's hair. It was a little longer initially but I made it more stylish..."

Zafrina was still uncomfortable and bewildered, especially at how normal Rhapsody and Lokia seemed, with their openness, kindness and the tenderness at which they looked at one another. It was a far cry from the stories Alana and Adonis had told her and her sisters. They weren't so different from merpeople afterall. But one thing didn't make sense...

"Would you mind explaining to me how they got their hands on this?" She extracted Ontari's necklace from her cloak pocket. "Lysidus sent two of them ahead with this to try and get the stone faster. It came at great personal cost..." the two nightlings took a moment to recognize it.

"A mermaid appeared - brown hair, purple tail -"

"Ontari." Zafrina said. "We have a little history with her..."

"That was her name. You knew her? I'm sorry, but.. she's dead." They blinked in shock. "She came to us, offering infomation on you. She seemed in mourning, bitter. Ontari gave us everything. She told us what you all went through in Belixia, and that you had the stone, and what makes you vulnerable. I think, it was your friendships, that inspired Lysidus to try and fracture your group." Rhapsody hesitated. "Lysidus demanded her necklace, but she refused, so he killed her. I'm sorry -"

"We weren't on good terms, but thank you for telling us." Bay said, in case Zafrina found it difficult. And while she felt awful, Zafrina was also relieved. The last supporter and ghost of Nia was dead, but most of all, Ontari and Icarus could be together now.

"Just tell us about the stone." Zafrina murmured.

"Destroying that thing won't harm us, it'll merely make us mortal again, and that's what me and Lokia want. But it'll kill Lysidus, since he depends on it."

"You speak as though Lysidus is connected to the stone... as if he needs it to live."

"Years ago, in the war..." Lokia looked very uncomfortable. A truth was on it's way. "He got his hands on the stone. He thought by doing it, that he'd have more control over the thing..."

"What did he do?" There was a pause.

"He put his soul into the Abraxia stone." Zafrina and Bay stared at the two nightlings at the truth that had just been revealed.

"He... he put his soul into it?"

"Yes." Said Lokia, softly. "He hoped that it would give him more control over it. And it did. He can't die unless the stone is destroyed. He can self heal. He can heal others. He hoped that placing part of himself into the jewel would perhaps let him wield it's power if he were to lose it. It didn't work to that extent though. He's preserved himself, the selfish -" Lokia stopped herself from cursing before leaning forwards. "The closer he is, the more control he has over it. If he concentrates, he can manipulate it from a distance, project his voice through it..." Zafrina stiffened.

A voice. What had she been hearing over the last few weeks?

 _"Melody doesn't care about you... it's her fault you killed Icarus... wouldn't it be nice to just get away from it all?"_

The manipulative voice Zafrina had been hearing, seeding anxiety and suspicion into her mind, tormenting her and making her believe that Melody didn't care. She flashbacked to the cave, when Melody had hesitated before using the stone - Zafrina had heard that same voice moments before the beam had veered off and hit them.

"His plan, since Ontari gave him the information he needed, has been to split you up, so you're all at your most vulnerable. He wanted to test you, to break you. It's all a game to him. He can hear what happens around the stone, when he's closer, he starts to even see the stone's surroundings. We couldn't stand by and watch as he did that. We left when he was asleep - he can't use it unless he's awake."

The subdued glow that occurred at night, when Lysidus was asleep - if he was as close as they thought when they'd reached Circe, the stone had worked perfectly fine. Then, when the glow returned and Lysidus awoke, he managed to make it stop working for them. That was why they couldn't reach Bay sooner - Proximus and Corva must have alerted Lysidus somehow, so they couldn't use the stone to find him.

Zafrina heard Bay's voice and felt his grip on her hand tighten as it all began to fall into place. She didn't need Rhapsody and Lokia to tell her. It had been Lysidus' plan all along to drive them apart, so when he reached the stone at last, it would be so easy to get it. And he had succeeded. His soul had been placed into the stone like a parasite, listening to everything, waiting for the chance to split their group in half...

"Lysidus. It's his fault the stone struck us, Bay. It makes sense now..." Zafrina whispered. "The voice, putting thoughts into my head, manipulating all of us, how didn't I see it? He split us up, and now we..."

It dawned upon Zafrina at last. Lysidus had taken advantage of the rift that could have so easily been fixed, if only she had let go of her stubbornness, and they'd communicated. Any amnesty she felt was gone. What had she done to Melody? Her cousin, her best friend, her sister... "We've left them there with the stone, for Lysidus to find them! And when he finds them... what will he do to them? We have to go back and warn them!"

"Zafrina, we have nothing to fight him with!" Bay realized. "If he can't die because his soul is in the stone, this can't end - without that sword Circe made, it can't be destroyed!" Yet there was something. Rhapsody and Lokia gave each other a look that Zafrina and Bay caught. "Is there something you both know? If you know something, we have to know." Rhapsody looked afraid. Lokia once again took her hand. "Please!" Rhapsody close her eyes and looked down.

"He can never know that we told you, but - that sword. The Abraxia Sword. He has it." Zafrina and Bay stared, dumbstruck. "You see, the lock to our prison was meant to be unbreakable, but that sword can cut through anything. Years ago, someone broke into Circe's lair and stole it. Eventually it fell into the hands of one of our group who was in hiding all those years, and they brought the sword to the prison. The sword freed us by breaking the binding magic that sealed the lock. Lysidus kept hold of it knowing that it's the only thing able to break the stone - but it's also indestructible, with all the dark magic Circe imbued it with. Better he protect it than allow it to fall into the right hands..."

Their solution was painfully obvious. To get the sword and destroy the stone, they'd have to go to Lysidus.

"Oh, Neptune." Bay murmured, simply. Zafrina and Bay got up abruptly, knowing what had to be done. "We need to get back to Melody and Finn, now, before he finds them..." Lokia rose to rush into the cave.

"Take this, you'll need it." She handed Bay one of the glaives. He flinched briefly, remembering his wounds, but he took it.

Zafrina turned to the two nightlings, who shrank away - she knew that they couldn't ask for them to come and help. Rhapsody started to cry with panic, whispering frantically to Lokia. "What if they fail? What he wins -"

"He'll never win." Lokia pulled her into an embrace, pressing her lips to her temple. "It'll be alright, I promise..." Zafrina and Bay looked on, touched at the tenderness shown between them. Zafrina went right up to Rhapsody and Lokia, all distrust gone, as she realized how alike merfolk and nightlings were.

"We promise we'll get that sword and destroy the stone. We'll never tell him where you are and - I'm sorry for how our kind treated yours, all that time ago. It never should have happened. We'll tell everyone the truth, and if you need shelter, we'll make sure you're welcome in Atlantica. Thank you for all your help." She took Bay's hand, and then with an explosion of purple smoke, they were gone, leaving Rhapsody and Lokia holding one another. Lokia pulled Rhapsody close, watching until the last of the purple smoke had dissolved.


	38. The shadows

"Finn, where are you?" Melody shouted in the dark. She was getting desperately worried now, her voice high pitched, and the more silence she encountered, the more panicked she grew. Finn had the stone - Lysidus wasn't far away - and who knew where Zafrina and Bay were? What if Finn had run into the nightlings? Or what if he never forgave her, for what happened to Zafrina and Bay? Did he blame her?

It occurred to her that maybe she shouldn't be yelling so loudly. She was alone, in the dark. Sharks, seawolves, Lysidus, with nothing but a staff - more like a stick - to defend herself...

There was the sound of pebbles skidding down a slope, bouncing off rocks. She whirled back around, watching the pebble bounce down a slope of rock before sinking to the black sand. Something had made it move. Melody's heart increased it's pace, her blood starting to pulse faster through her veins.

"Who's there?" Melody breathed, looking into the dark. No response. Nothing, not a flash of movement, not a tremor. The silence dragged by as she scanned the water. The shadows cast by underwater mountains seemed larger, darker, swallowing her. There were no icebergs floating above, no patch of lightness to speak of. Everything was black and she could barely see...

Melody's grip tightened on her staff. For a moment, just a moment, she swore she heard a hiss of breath. A flash of movement in the corner of her vision, a shape, like a torso. Yet when she whirled round, it disappeared, darting behind a boulder. Her breath was trapped inside her lungs, her mind screaming, that something was wrong, that she had to swim away...

"Show yourself," Melody dared. An eerily bright pair of yellow eyes emerged in the black, from a sunken face with tangled white hair. There was a glint of metal on his hand, a metal claw that replaced a lost finger. She remembered immediately. "You..."

"Poor, lost child..." Lysidus sighed, coming toward her. Melody was paralyzed with fear. His tone was cold and mocking. "Where are your friends? Left you here, all alone? I certainly didn't see that coming..."

Melody stared at him for a moment. Lysidus watched her, waiting for her to figure it out. Finally, it dawned upon her; his voice, the same one she'd heard from the stone. "You did it. You diverted the blast from the stone. You're the reason Zafrina and Bay got hit..."

"Smart girl." Melody's skin started to crawl. He'd put a piece of himself inside the stone.

"Stay away from me..." Melody backed away, staff tight in hand. Lysidus followed, beginning to circle her like a vulture around a dying animal. Melody felt like one, running out of time, helpless. He towered over her, his arms alone were almost as thick as her tail. She kept seeing the glistening metal claw on his hand, which clicked continuously against his metal spear, putting her on edge.

"It was really quite easy to split you all up. The underlying feelings of bereavement, distrust, fear, but it was me, whispering ideas and uncertainties into your minds that ultimately did it..." Lysidus was looking at her almost with a look of pity. He noticed how hard the staff trembled in her grasp, the blue flames burning in her eyes as it fell into place. "Do you want to kill me?" Melody didn't have to say her answer aloud. Lysidus grinned. "I know you would..."

Melody tried to smother her rage. She would have happily launched herself at the nightling who had been listening in through the stone, listening to their tensions and whispering anxiety into all of them, making them doubt their friendships. He'd set out to drive them apart in the most brutal way. She couldn't fight him, she knew that. She remembered Triton's letter; could she reason with him?

"I know you lost a lot... I know what my grandfather and the merpeople did to you. It's unforgivable, being blamed and punished for the actions of that rogue group... you didn't have anything to do with the Delorea massacre, they never, ever should have tried to kill your entire race!" Lysidus' eyes flashed with the memory of pain and loss, surprised at how much she knew about him.

"But there was a misunderstanding. The merpeople hunted you out of grief and panic, they mistakenly thought you were in on the killings... you've become exactly what they feared. It was half a century ago! Times have changed. It's different, better, the world is better... we tolerate each other now. Your kind can live in harmony with mine..." Melody looked at him pleadingly. "All you have to do is give up this terrible plan. My grandfather regretted trying to kill you for the rest of his life, it tormented him in his final days. He created what he feared the most all because of a misunderstanding..."

Melody ran out of words but it didn't matter. "Did you honestly think I'd change my mind when it was made fifty years ago?" Lysidus murmured, and something inside Melody crashed. Her breath snagged in her throat and she began to shrink away. He wasn't alone.

Corva and Proximus, who had attacked Bay, emerged from the other side of the boulder. That wasn't all. Three other shapes melted out of the shadows, moving toward her in a loose semi circle. Melody couldn't breathe. Their ragged cloaks billowed with their movement, revealing the reptilian hands that gripped cruel weapons. Melody was surrounded by six nightlings. Eyes burned into her, ferocious, making her freeze.

"Give up the stone, Melody. You have no where to go..." Lysidus's voice was cool yet it screamed danger, madness. His eyes were wild with anticipation. But there was no stone this time - they wouldn't like that. Melody noticed the sword one of the nightlings held, the same one she'd seen Lysidus trying to destroy. Two other nightlings surrounded her, protective. A black metal, the blade studded with red jewels - it looked exactly like the drawing she'd found in Circe's lair. The dots connected yet there was nothing she could do. Melody turned, and fled for her life. Like a pack of wolves, four of the nightlings began to follow, while the other three remained, protecting the sword. Lysidus himself disappeared.

Meanwhile, blurs of purple randomly appeared for a brief second, in various places between Belixia and the end of Wundagore. Screams were heard as Zafrina and Bay were violently thrown about.

"Keep hold of me -"

" _What's it doing_ \- just hold on -"

It was as though Zafrina and Bay were blind, being thrown back and forth through space. Flashes of land appeared, some that looked like Wundagore, others that looked like - well, not Wundagore. They'd asked it to take them to Melody and Finn - so why was it flinging them across the ocean?

"Just hang on a minute, make it stop -" they were thrown to the sand. Zafrina immediately leapt back up, scooping up the necklace as Bay picked himself up. She looked around in panic; this was a place they'd passed weeks before. "It's not broken. What is with inconsistent magic lately?" Bay took the necklace and examined it.

"I don't see anything wrong with it. Unless they've separated? It might be unsure where to take us -" Zafrina gripped his wrist.

"Separated? No, they wouldn't - if that's true, one of them's on their own..." Zafrina pictured the area they'd left Melody and Finn at, instead. The purple dust cleared, and they found themselves back at the Black Ridge, in the exact place they'd left them. Zafrina almost laughed at herself for hoping they'd still be there. "Alright. Let's just think for a moment..."

As they tried to think, they were suddenly aware of a distant sound. "What's that?" The sound of screaming was what brought Zafrina and Bay rushing over the hill. Five shapes tore across the sand, Melody being one of them. "It's Melody! What do we -" Before Bay could even look at Zafrina, she shoved Ontari's necklace into his hands.

"Make it take you to Finn! Bring him back here! I'll get Melody, you get Finn and try to get the sword!"

"I can't leave you!" Bay refused to leave her with six nightlings. Zafrina grabbed his face, kissing him hard, before there was an explosion of purple smoke. Bay tried to protest but Zafrina had torn the glaive from his grasp. She grabbed the necklace back.

"He's here somewhere! Use the stone to find us!" Zafrina vanished once more, leaving Bay in shock. He was speechless at the speed of it all.

"Oh, why me?" Bay cursed before beginning to shout for Finn.


	39. Poison

Finn jolted when a hand seized him by the shoulder. The stone burned in his grasp as he thrust up a defensive hand, taking a moment to recognize Bay with his new hair. There was a short scream. "Put that down!" Bay exclaimed, leaping back. "I've had enough trouble from that -"

 _"Bay?"_ Finn stared in shock.

"Nevermind, just listen to me -"

"Bay, what are you doing here?" Finn couldn't help it - he threw his arms around his best friend. But Bay, no matter how relieved and happy he was to see him, struggled free.

"Yes, all is forgiven and forgotten! Now shut up and come with me to the Black Ridge!"

"Bay, you can't just appear with no explanation -"

"They've found Melody!" Bay shouted to get his attention. Finn's belly suddenly lurched and went cold, as though he'd swallowed a lump of ice. How had he forgotten, that she was alone? He'd left her there... Without hesitation Finn got the stone. It blazed to life and they found themselves in the dark sands of Wundagore, where distant shouting greeted their hearing.

In her haste Melody dropped the staff, but as she turned to retrieve it, the two nightlings came charging toward her. Cursing, she turned and raced down a slope. Frantically, she looked for somewhere to hide. Their voices were fast approaching, but as they sounded above her, she saw somewhere - a rock overhang.

Melody rolled underneath it, praying that the two nightlings would pass. To her dismay the pair of tail fins came to an adrupt halt, little more than a metre from her face. The two males, one of whom she recognized as Proximus, started to stalk the area before her eyes.

"She can't have disappeared into thin air... she's definitely hiding somewhere. You look here, I'll be up ahead." One of them disappeared into the darkness, while Proximus stayed, a few feet from Melody's face. _Why him?_ She thought, bitterly. This was the sadist, who had stabbed Bay, who had cut his hair.

"Where are you, little mermaid? We know you're here..." Melody clenched her teeth, trying to stay silent and out of view. Her heart thundered in her chest, so hard she was terrified Proximus would hear it. She closed her eyes tight, sensing that he was coming closer. "You can't hide..." Melody shuffled further into the rock overhang, a tiny gasp escaping as her tail fins hit a pebble. Proximus turned toward her hiding place. Melody crawled along the overhang, rolling onto sand and behind a boulder, just as Proximus came back into view.

Proximus thrust his face underneath the overhang. Melody watched as he reached under it, retrieving something, and suddenly she noticed that one of her rings was missing. "Sneaky... now where could you be?" He started looking at nearby hiding places. Melody siddled further behind the rock, her back pressed to it, knowing that Proximus was coming closer. There was no where she could go. It was flat sand in all directions. He would see her, and she was without a weapon... and then -

 _"This_ is for stabbing my boyfriend three times!" There was the brutal sound of something heavy striking the back of a head. Melody gasped as Proximus crashed to the sand, inches from her tail fins. He was out cold, a bruise blooming on his head. Delirious with fear, not recognising the voice or the shadow, she snatched up his dropped knife, brandishing it in both hands. Her hands shook around the weapon, she couldn't see who it was, as their dark form came closer. "Melody?" Whispered a softly accented voice, and the knife slipped from Melody's grasp. Zafrina melted out of the dark, Melody's dropped staff in hand. Melody rose off the sand, staring at her cousin.

"Zafrina..." For a long moment they simply looked at each other. Then they flung their weapons to the sand, as Melody threw her arms around Zafrina. They clung to each other, all previous amnesty gone. "I'm sorry... for everything that's happened..."

"No, _I'm_ sorry." Zafrina held Melody close, the familiar love for her coming back all at once. At last, their embrace felt like the ones they shared before Triton had died. "I was so stubborn and stupid... we all were." Zafrina pulled back, both hands holding her face, and Melody smiled through tears. "Oh, cousin..." She laughed. The moment was interrupted by a yellow light. They jumped and turned, still holding each other. Finn and Bay appeared a few feet away, tumbling across the sand.

"Are you okay?" Finn asked, hastily, guiltily. "I lost track of time..."

"It's alright." Melody squeezed his hand. Finn spotted Zafrina and they shared a quick hug. Melody took a moment to embrace Bay. "I'm so sorry about your hair..." It was a startling change.

"Well, it's starting to grow on me a bit. I've never had it short, and Zafrina likes it, so win-win." Bay, ever the optimist. But he couldn't help shooting a glance towards the unconscious form of Proximus. "I won't lie, if we had the time I'd be tempted to cut his hair myself -" Realizing they had no time to waste, he shook himself. "But we still have a big problem. We've got the stone, and they've got the sword..." Hastily, Zafrina began to explain; of course, Finn was clueless, and Melody had only figured out parts of it.

"We ran into two nightlings who used to be with Lysidus. They explained that Lysidus placed his soul into the gem - I know." Zafrina rolled her eyes in amusement at the looks on Melody and Finn's faces. "A ridiculously long story for another time. Anyway, the voice we've been hearing, it's all been him. We know that the beam that struck us, him too - Lysidus has been pulling the strings this whole time. He's been trying to break us up. But if we get the sword and destroy the stone, he'll die and this can finally be over. We've got to get the sword off them." Zafrina shoved the stone into her bag, hoping it would be the last time.

Reunited at last, the group headed toward the place where the three nightlings protected the sword. Peering around two boulders, they spotted them. The three nightlings anxiously waited for something to happen. The two others, including Corva, to Zafrina and Bay's chagrin, were pacing the area like sentries. The young one holding the sword looked terrified to be entrusted with such a thing, holding it far from her body. "How are we going to get it?" Finn glanced at the others. More worryingly, where was Lysidus? "We need a plan. Someone needs to hide with the stone until we get the sword - Lysidus is close."

"Who's going to hide, then?" Melody asked, but almost immediately, Zafrina placed the stone in her hand. "Me? Absolutely not! I won't let you three go in there alone!"

"Melody, one of us has to stay, we can't risk getting the stone so close to any of the nightlings. And we can't exactly stick it under a rock for the time being. They'll be expecting you - we've got the element of surprise." Melody glowered at them for a moment, before scowling at the stone. She supposed they were right - and they were certainly more up to the task. They were far superior fighters.

"Fine. As soon as you have the sword, bring it to me and we'll end this." She muttered, as Zafrina, Finn and Bay began to edge towards the three nightlings.

"Be careful." Finn said, as he left. Melody had Ontari's necklace at the ready, her senses fully alert, as she looked around, keeping watch for Lysidus or the other two missing nightlings. Zafrina had hit Proximus rather hard with the staff, so he was someone less to worry about. She sank out of view, concealing herself in a group of boulders, peering out between two cracks. No sooner had she been hidden than a voice hissed in her ear.

"I can feel the stone..." Melody's hand went for Ontari's necklace, but Lysidus seized her wrist. They tumbled through purple space, Melody trying to wrestle free. Her thoughts a mess, Melody couldn't set the location, and they were thrown throughout the area.

 _"Let go of me! Let go!"_

Meanwhile, Zafrina, Finn and Bay approached the three nightlings. Finn had Melody's staff, Bay held the glaive Lokia had given him. They slowly moved into view of Corva and the other two nightlings. The young one shrank away in fear, clutching the sword as through her life depended on it. Corva and the other nightling bristled at the sight of her, protectively moving forwards in front of the young one.

"Whatever game you're playing, it won't work." Corva flashed a smile at Bay, although she glanced back at the young male protecting the sword.

"Back up, Xanth." Warned the other nightling.

"Do you miss your hair? Do you want me to do it a little shorter for you?" Corva asked, mockingly.

"How about I cut yours off, see how you like it?" Finn retorted, bitterly, glancing at Bay worriedly.

"That hideous scar is gone, at least. You're welcome."

"Do you expect a thank you note?" Bay was stung. "You can't just go about stabbing people to get what you want! Do you honestly want to live forever, stuck this way for eternity?" Behind them, Zafrina approached Xanth, who was backing away in fear still, closer and closer to her. She shuddered; the young one was crying in terror. Had Lysidus threatened him? As Finn and Bay exchanged insults with Corva and the other adult nightling, they advanced closer to one another. Zafrina had a chance, she was so close -

 _"Behind you!"_ Shouted a voice. Proximus dragged himself over the hill, still delirious from the blow to his head. The young nightling whirled round with a shriek of fear, and Zafrina leapt back as the sword swung within inches of her face. Corva and the other nightling whirled round too, but Finn and Bay sprang forwards, swinging their weapons. Chaos broke out.

 _"The sword! Protect the sword!"_

 _"Quickly -!"_

Zafrina seized the chance. As Finn and Bay distracted Corva and the adult, she grabbed sword from Xanth, and they fought over it, wrenching it back and forth. "Give it up, kid! _Give it up!"_

Melody and Lysidus continued to be thrown through the ocean as Ontari's necklace struggled to figure where Melody wanted it to go. She was too focused on her struggle with Lysidus to think of that. One of his hands was locked around her throat, and she thrashed against him, gasping for breath. "Is that all you have to offer? Honestly, I expected more from a descendant of Triton!" Melody felt her back and tail scraping across the seabed. She struck repeatedly at his arm, and finally dislodged it from her throat, but his other was frantically going for her bag. He could sense the stone.

"Hands off!" She thrust up her elbow, and she heard a crack. A little blood appeared; his nose had been broken.

"You'll regret that! You'll regret all of it!" Lysidus' eyes blazed wildly, the same colour as the Abraxia stone. He rose his arm high in the air; his fingernails like a cat's claws, the metal claw glistening in the light. Melody barely had time to react. She cried out and an image of Zafrina and Finn came to mind. Finally the necklace transported them, and she and Lysidus were thrown in different directions. They manifested just above the fight, and there were several screams as two bodies came flying out of the purple dust.

Melody smacked into Bay, sending them crashing across the sand. The stone flew from her hand, disappearing over the rise, which only Zafrina saw. She dived after it, not thinking of anything else. Bay groaned, lifting his head to see a female nightling holding a glaive over him. Finn was trapped, his arms twisted painfully behind him by Corva. He struggled in vain, but then he saw Melody, laying in the center of it all. Something was very wrong.

Melody hadn't moved. She was on her side, curled into herself, Lysidus floating over her. She looked tiny and vulnerable, curled up in the middle of the circle, shaking for some reason. "Get away from her!" Finn shouted, fighting to free himself. Lysidus crouched next to her barely moving form. He was murmuring soothing words, his reptilian hand stroking her head, his yellow eyes on Finn the whole time. Melody was twitching, her hands clenching and uncurling, her fingers weakly clawing at the black sand. Finn couldn't see what had been done, and he thrashed against Corva. "What have you done to her? _What have you done?"_

Lysidus suddenly removed his metal claw and Finn and Bay went silent. Underneath the claw, there was a vial in place of a finger. The liquid inside was dark purple, almost black.

Lysidus' metal claw was poisoned.


	40. Attempted trickery

_**(Edited)**_

 _ **Another warning about some dark themes, graphic descriptions of violence and serious injury...**_

Fire burned through Melody's veins. It coursed through her, slowly spreading through her body, torturously slow. She shook on the sand, gasping for breath. There were three gashes on her shoulder and chest, running parallel like the swipe of claws. Two were more shallow, being from Lysidus' claw like fingernails, but the metal claw had torn deep into her. The scratches mirrored the three burns on Lysidus' own shoulder and torso. The deepest gash was black, Melody's veins turning a dark shade of purple as the poison spread through her blood.

Finn was screaming her name. Bay lay on the sand, his mouth moving but no words coming out. Hidden from view, Zafrina covered her mouth, trying to smother the agonized screams as she looked on. _No!_

Lysidus ignored Melody and the screaming merman Corva restrained. He dove into her bag, but when he tore open the casket, there was nothing. He wildly looked about. "Where is it? Where, girl?" Melody couldn't reply. His penetrating gaze bore into Finn and Bay. Finn struggled violently against Corva. "Where is the stone?" His poisoned metal claw hovered close to Melody's cheek, threateningly.

"Look, please, we'll do anything -" Bay's pleas fell on deaf ears. Lysidus nicked Melody on the arm, and more purple bloomed. Melody groaned and winced, but was too weak to make another sound. Finn's eyes swam with tears, his mouth quivering. Lysidus nicked her again. Melody released a feeble cry, as the claw sank deeper.

"Stop it!" Finn screamed, desperately. "She doesn't have the stone, we don't either! Just don't hurt her anymore! I'll do anything!" Finally Lysidus left Melody alone, stalking away. Melody lay there, barely making a sound, eyes like glass.

Zafrina buried her hands in her hair, desperately trying to think of what to do. She had only just gotten her back, and now she was about to lose Melody forever. She looked at the stone, which glowed in her hand. Her other hand held something cold, telling her that she could end it all, right now. She had a choice to make. One in which Melody survived, but the other, where nobody else did. _Think... what can I do? Think, come on!_

"We don't know! _Honestly!"_ Bay protested, flinching as the tip of the metal spear prodded him harder. Lysidus stared at him, before looking at Finn, who was weakly calling Melody's name. He came over, his cruel face thrust into Finn's, his matted white hair hanging forwards. He breathed heavily, and Finn could see his unusually sharp teeth. Lysidus paused briefly, before he struck Finn across the face. A few drops of blood dissolved in the water, but Finn clenched his jaw, refusing to let his pain be heard.

"Finn..." Melody mumbled, weakly, black spots appearing across her vision. Her arm lay extended toward Finn, and she noticed that her veins were changing colour, her fingers twitching strangely. Darkness was slowly spreading, tiny purple-black streams under her skin as the poison wrapped around her veins. Her eyes slipped shut and she started to mutter deliriously, eyelids twitching as she fought to keep them open.

"Do you want her to live? Give us the jewel, and we can save her..." It was a trick - of course they wouldn't bother saving Melody. They'd use the stone to disappear as soon as they had it. And Finn didn't have it or any idea where it was. As he grew more desperate, his despair turned to rage. His sea-green eyes had turned dark, like water sailors drowned in. His gaze was dangerous, for the first time in his life.

"I don't know where it is." Finn spat, looking up through his hair that hung over his eyes. It concealed the split lip Lysidus had just given him. He strained against those who held him back, desperate to lunge at the nightling, but he caught sight of her again. She was starting to convulse feebly. "Melody..."

"Shut up his whining. I've lost count of how many times he's said her name..." Lysidus hissed. Finn continued to fight, believing he had only seconds left, but if that was true, he wanted his last words to comfort her.

"Melody, it's alright! I'm here..." But she was fading. The poison was agony in her veins, the burning spreading throughout her whole body. She was growing weaker, shutting down. Proximus had taken a knife in hand, and he was moving toward Finn. Melody felt tears flood to her eyes, but she was too weak to speak. Finn struggled in defiance, while Bay began to realize.

"No - no..." Bay protested, his voice breaking. Lysidus cast a heartless glance towards Melody, who barely moved, beginning to succumb to the call.

"Now you can join your precious -"

 _"Get back!"_ Melody lifted her head slightly. Zafrina came tearing over the hill, the stone in hand. She came to a halt, clinging her cloak tight to her left side, the stone held in the other hand.

"Zafrina, no!" Bay protested, but she ignored him.

"Get away from them, or I'll blast you into next week!" Zafrina held the stone threateningly, but she knew it wasn't going to work. Rhapsody and Lokia said that Lysidus could control the stone - any blast could be stopped or diverted. He turned, eyes blazing as they finally fixed on the yellow stone for the first time in fifty years. His soul seemed to respond inside, frantically glowing brighter. A feverish look took over his eyes.

"Lysidus..." said a trembling voice; it was Xanth, who looked no older than fourteen. He come forwards, timidly. "I need to tell you something -" Lysidus flew out his hand, striking him across the face. Xanth cried out, cradling his cheek in his hand, and he backed away. Zafrina suddenly felt bad for him.

"You're going to let them go and move back." Zafrina's eyes burned in the darkness, tears making them glossy. She could see Melody in agony on the floor, and her lips shook as she struggled to hold back her sobs. As she broke inside, she maintained a look of defiance, trying to hide her fear. "I'll make you a deal." There was only one thing she could have to offer.

"Let me save her - and I'll... give you the stone."

"Zafrina, don't..." Melody whispered, even though she was shuddering now, her breath shallow. Her limbs twitched like they had minds of their own, but still, she tried to. "Please, don't... it's not worth it..."

"And why should we let you save her worthless life?" Lysidus sneered. "You'll all be dead anyway. Give me one reason, and don't say 'love'."

"At least we can die together _."_ Zafrina looked him dead in the eyes, her gaze unwavering. Lysidus began to tremble violently, part fear, part anger. Xanth, who was still crying in terror, tried again to get his attention, but Lysidus went to strike him once more. _"That's enough!"_ Zafrina's voice was so high she thought it might tear. Xanth looked at her in shock before he said no more to avoid Lysidus' wrath.

Under his fear, there seemed to be something similar about the way he looked at the stone in her hand - it was the same loathing Rhapsody and Lokia had when they were talking about the stone. He grew quiet and backed away. Lysidus turned back to her, his fist still clenched. She held up the stone in one hand, as though to dangle the prize. The yellow light blazed through her fingers, brighter than ever. "Do we have an understanding?"

There was a long silence. Melody slumped on the ground, eyelids flickering, her face white, her hand laying limp on the sand. Her veins were purple, bulging against her skin. Bay stared from Lysidus to Zafrina, while Finn had slipped to the floor, only held up by his restrained arms.

"Do it." Lysidus hissed, at last. Zafrina immediately rushed forwards to Melody's twitching form, a little awkwardly, as her other hand clung her cloak to her side. She sent black sand flying as she dove to the seabed. Finn looked desperately on.

"It's okay, Mel..." Zafrina murmured, as the stone began to glow, Lysidus looking on with chagrin. "It'll be okay..."

"Zafrina... what are you doing? You can't..." Zafrina ignored Melody, not looking at her face, as yellow light poured into the terrible wound. Melody gasped and gritted her teeth, tiny sobs escaping her throat as the stone's power worked to save her, the poison seeping out of her body. Her chest wounds began to shrink, and Melody's eyes closed. She fell unconscious, but as Zafrina felt her pulse, it answered her, growing strong and steady. She looked at Bay and Finn and nodded. Finn released a shaking exhale, slumping in his restrainer's grasp. Bay closed his eyes and his head sank into the sand, realizing the cost of what Zafrina had done.

"Well? You've done it. Hand it over." Lysidus growled. Zafrina looked up at Finn and Bay through her hair, where her face bowed over Melody. _What are you up to?_ they both thought. Zafrina had a plan, it was written all over her face. The look disappeared as she looked away from them and to the nightlings.

Zafrina rose, turning from Melody's form on the ground, facing Lysidus with the jewel tight in hand. "I'd like to say something first, if you don't mind." She said, mildly. The nightlings gave her a peculiar look; Corva narrowed her eyes, deeply suspicious.

"Well, we're very interested to hear what you have to say." Lysidus' lip curled in impatience and displeasure. Zafrina moved away from Melody, so a large gap was between her and Lysidus. The corner of her mouth twitched.

"I'd just like to let you know that, I'm sorry about what happened... and I know we were wrong to try and kill you all... I mean, we probably deserve it..." Zafrina's words weren't carefully thought out. She was stalling, but what for? Meaningless words tumbled out of her mouth as her mind raced to craft her plan. Then Finn and Bay saw it; Bay restrained a strangled cry. A glint beneath Zafrina's cloak, a black and red glimmer. Xanth, the young one guarding the solution to their problem, looked more terrified than ever. Unfortunately, one of the nightlings realized that Xanth's hands were empty.

Out of time, Zafrina threw the cursed stone to the floor and swung the Abraxia sword into the air above her head, preparing to bring it down onto the flickering jewel. The nightlings screamed in horror, and Lysidus lunged with a shriek of panic; now so close to it, his panic was reflected in the stone. Before Zafrina could strike the jewel, a beam spontaneously erupted from it, aimed at it's attacker.

With no time to dive aside, Zafrina leapt back with a shriek. There was a blinding flash as the beam struck the blade; but instead of breaking, the energy rebounded. The beam was reflected off the sword, and it split into several.

There were several screams. The other nightlings leapt back in panic as the beams carved through the water and the seabed, carving deep crevices into the black ground. Bay rolled across the sand as one beam narrowly missed him. Finn sprang across the space, diving under the light and over the unconscious Melody, shielding her with his body. With a grunt of effort Zafrina deflected the energy aside. Shards of rock flew, scraping their faces and showering the seabed; the boulder behind her had been cleaved in half. Unaffected by the beams, Lysidus had seized the stone in the chaos, and now his eyes blazed like two tiny Abraxia stones.

With a shriek of triumph, Lysidus unleashed it's power. Sand flew everywhere and scars were carved into the seabed.

"Guys! We've got to go!" Finn gathered Melody's unconscious form from the sand, her head and tail hanging over his arms as light blinded them. Zafrina ducked a slash of light, as she hauled Bay up, where he was curled up on the floor, arms wrapped around his head. They dodged a fresh blast, practically crashing into Finn and Melody. They all seized one another as he grabbed Ontari's necklace.

"Wait - where are we going -"

"Who cares? _Just go!"_ Bay shouted.

Several moments later, there were several gasps and screams as a purple cloud manifested out of nowhere. Finn, Melody, Zafrina and Bay came flying out of the smoke, crashing through the crowd, scattering merpeople and sea creatures alike across the seabed. Finn and Melody rolled to a stop, the latter encased in his arms. Melody briefly regained conciousness, as she stirred against Finn's torso, still delirious from the poison. The last thing she remembered was the faint glimmer of Atlantica, before losing consciousness once more.


	41. Morals

**_(Edited)_**

Melody's eyes fluttered open. Feeling something warm covering her hand, she turned her head to see Finn, where he sat by her bedside, his head rested on the edge of the bed, his hand over hers. She frowned, noticing his split lip, and her fingers brushed his face. Finn jolted awake, looking around fearfully, before his gaze found at her. "Mel?"

"Hi." She murmured. Finn made a sound between a laugh and a sob as he raised her hand to his mouth to kiss it. He held it against his lips, his eyes closed, as though handling something precious. He had almost lost her, not for the first time. Melody struggled to sit up, looking around; it was one of the rooms in Triton's palace. She realized, hauntingly, that this was the first time she'd been in it since his death. "You brought us home?"

"I... I didn't know where else to go." Finn confessed.

"I thought it could only take three..."

"So did I - although it did take a little longer. Maybe I misheard or we got away with it because I was carrying you." Melody could hear distant voices, in furious debate.

"Are they mad?"

"Well... all your aunts came down for the funeral, and they've been here ever since waiting for us. Aquata was furious - 'where have you been', all that. Alana looked as though she were about to murder Zafrina. Then they saw you unconscious, and they focused on what happened to you. They were furious at us for leaving so suddenly at a difficult time, although I think they'll forgive us eventually." A faint smile hinted at his mouth. "They didn't recognize Bay at first, now that his scar is gone and what with his hair - they thought he was an attacker. Attina almost strangled him until Zafrina told her who it was." There was a pause, and suddenly Finn looked as though he were standing on thin ice; as if he was afraid to tell her something. "What do you remember?" Melody looked at the wall, frowning as she tried to recollect what happened.

"...nothing." It had gone misty after Lysidus had struck her with his metal claw. She remembered the pain, the poison searing through her veins. She looked at him, and he avoided her eyes, reluctant to tell her. "Finn... where's the stone?" Finn didn't answer, and then Melody remembered something else. "Don't tell me..."

"You were dying..." An image entered her head. Finn and Bay, being restrained, the whole group of nightlings facing Zafrina who floated a distance away. Something yellow had glowed in her hand.

"No... she didn't..."

Bay stirred, where he slept in a chair. "What's going on?" He asked, groggily. "Oh, Melody - are you okay?"

"What happened?" Melody demanded. And they told her, how Zafrina had dived over the hill out of view, where the stone and the sword had been mislaid. She had pretended that she was going to hand over the jewel once she had saved Melody, when her true intention was to destroy it immediately after with the sword she had hidden under her cloak. But Melody saw the missed opportunity.

"Where is she?" Melody sat bolt upright, also ignoring Finn's warnings to take it easy. Bay hurried outside, calling someone, and then Zafrina was in the doorway. Finn and Bay exchanged looks as she came forwards, sitting on the end of the bed. Melody stared at Zafrina, eyes piercing through her, and her cousin avoided her gaze, looking down at the bedsheets in discomfort. "Why... why did you do it?"

"I had to..."

"Zafrina, you had the chance to end it all. It was wide open, you could have done it and killed Lysidus there and then! Why didn't you?"

"Why are we even discussing it? There was no other way." Zafrina looked up into her eyes at last, voice cracking. "You were dying. Nothing else could have saved you, except the stone. If I destroyed it before I could heal you, I would be letting you die."

"But - why? I don't understand!" Anger and horror crept into Melody's voice. "We'll all be dead anyway! He has it, there's nothing to stop him from killing everyone now -" Zafrina grew angry.

"I saw two ways: I could have destroyed it and allowed you to die of poisoning, or, I could have saved you first, and taken the chance to get rid of it right under their noses!" But they couldn't avoid the whale in the room. Zafrina had missed such an easy opportunity, alone with the sword and the stone, to carry out a much more risky plan. And her plan had been an epic fail.

"I know, I'm selfish. The rest of the guilt I used to feel would be nothing, compared to what I would feel knowing I had allowed you to die when I could have saved you! And we can still win this! There's still a chance..." There was a silence. Melody still looked unforgiving, refusing to look at anyone. "Alright then. Would you have rather been poisoned to death?" Zafrina challenged. "Honestly, I know it's noble and selfless, but given the choice would you be willing to die even if there was a chance of saving you?"

"That's an unfair question -"

"Well, would you?"

"We haven't got time to discuss what's been done - it happened." Finn interrupted. He knew more than anyone that they'd dwelled too much on the past. "And I'm a bit uncomfortable with you talking about sacrifice and death after all we've been through!" Melody leaned back against the wall, hiding her face in her hand. Trying to ease the atmosphere, Bay went into the corner to retrieve something, and he laid it down on the bed. The red stones glistened against the black blade, and Melody's eyes snapped open.

"We have the sword. We still have a shot..." Bay pointed out.

"A _long_ shot. We have no idea where he is. He could unleash his plan any minute now..."

"That's a point. It's been hours." Bay tried to steer the conversation before it could get back to the flaw. "Why is he waiting? You'd think, after fifty years of waiting, he'd jump to it." Melody's anger subsided somewhat. Zafrina looked at Bay.

"Lysidus is a sadistic psychopath, from what Rhapsody and Lokia told us and what I observed. I think he's planning something."

"Like what?" Finn asked.

"I don't know." Zafrina rose, gnawing her fingernails as she wandered to the window. "Well... one of the last things grandfather did was place an invisible force field around Atlantica, stopping any nightlings from passing through. Zaidee said she and Alex got confronted by Lysidus a few weeks ago, and when one of the nightlings followed them into the field, he got disintegrated. Corva's brother, apparently."

"I hate her." Bay muttered.

"Obviously grandfather feared he would come here, and I have a feeling it won't do much now that he has the stone. But I learned something interesting, overhearing our aunts. When he first tried to kill the merpeople, fifty-odd years ago, he tried to do it in this very palace until Circe stopped him..."

"What are you saying, Zafrina?" Melody slipped out of the bed, trying to forgive her. "You think he's going to come back here? To end it where it began?"

"Yes. And to torment us and rub more salt into the wound. He can watch his spell be carried out." Zafrina pulled anxiously at one of her gold bangles. "A lot of this, I overheard from my mother and our aunts. They're... very stressed..." Sure enough, Melody could hear distant, high-pitched voices growing louder. "Oh, boy. Brace yourselves -"

Six mermaids came bursting in. All of them looked relieved that she was awake, but also furious and terrified. "Do you have any idea how worried we were?" Arista exclaimed, fiercely. Their rage was focused on Melody and Zafrina, so Finn and Bay felt a little invisible.

"We didn't -"

 _"A note!_ A note was all you left!" Alana was still furious with Zafrina.

"Mother I thought we already talked about -" whenever any of them tried to protest one of Ariel's sisters cut in.

"How could you disappear at such a time?" Andrina was in visible distress; they all were. "We had to keep Ariel in the dark, again! We've had to make all sorts of cover stories and excuses -"

"If I may interject -" Bay tried, but his attempt to help was ignored as the mermaids continued to vent their rage. Frustrated, Zafrina raised her voice to try and gain control of the conversational floor.

"We're sorry, but there was no time - grandfather wanted us to go, it was his wish that we leave as soon as possible!"

"You could have mentioned it!" Attina snapped.

"Really? You would have done everything to stop us going!" Melody protested, moving forward to float beside Zafrina. "It's exactly why he wanted us to go - we would have got it done! He trusted us!" All six older mermaids stared at them, and there was a stubborn silence.

"Alright, maybe we're not perfect." Adella muttered. "But you could have at least -" the look from Zafrina and Melody finally seemed to persuade the sisters to stop hassling them. All six moved restlessly. "Can you at least tell us we have a plan?"

"Plan?" What plan? Nobody had officially been crowned Triton's successor, the sisters temporarily leading Atlantica together, but surely with their experience they could formulate a plan... but then, Lysidus was different. He was unreachable, his location a mystery, and he had the weapon to kill them all. They were panicking.

"Your majesties -" they turned to see Sebastian, who looked as terrified as everyone else. "A message has just arrived from Lysidus..."

"What?" Aquata stared at him as silence filled the room. "How -"

"It magically appeared..." he held a letter by in his shaky claws. Arista ventured forward to take it, and stared at it, her eyes widening.

"Well?" Whispered Alana. Arista took a while to respond.

" _You have one hour. Prepare yourselves..."_


	42. Out of time

_**Sorry this took a little long, but I've been struggling with filling out and organizing this chapter, to balance the events I have planned. Not long to go!**_

The protective shield around Atlantica had been slightly visible ever since the first nightling had tried to pass it. It shimmered, gold, like the diffused trident light. Everyone held a weapon of some kind, having raided the armoury which hadn't been used ever since the battle with Nia. There were swords, shields, spears, and the trained guards alongside anyone who was brave enough to help. They were gathered at the verge of Atlantica, where the gold shield seemed to be flickering feverishly, as if it knew it would soon fail.

All of Ariel's sisters floated in front, and if they were present, their husbands and adult children not far behind. Around thirty merpeople were there, shifting with fear and unease. It was their first confrontation without Triton

"The trident won't hold it?" Arista fretted. In their haste they'd forgotten what could be their most powerful weapon against Lysidus, but it was too late now. Perhaps it was for the better; it couldn't fall into his dangerous hands.

"I doubt it, from what Melody, Zafrina and the boys said..." Aquata replied, with trepidation, but they hadn't told them the half of what the stone could do. They omitted Finn getting brought back from the dead, Zafrina and Bay getting struck, and they'd downplayed Melody being poisoned, insisting she'd merely been knocked out when their aunts discovered her unconscious. Melody was sure that Ariel would drag her out of the sea and back to land if she heard what happened.

"You're certain our girls and Melody will be safe?" Alana asked, fearfully.

"They were told to help evacuate and hide themselves. Don't worry, they'll be alright." Adonis assured his wife, squeezing her hand. He was unaware, however, they had no intention of obeying them. While they were indeed helping the last of the Atlanticans who weren't fighting to safety, they certainly weren't planning on hiding with them.

Zafrina noticed a lost child, who was crying and cowering under a rock as merpeople bustled past. She hurried over, startled to realize that it was Murphy, Arista's toddler who was one and a half. She had seen Arista hand him over to Aquata's teenaged son, but he must have been lost in the chaos. She crouched down and spoke softly. "It's okay, Murphy. Remember me?" She extended a hand, and he looked at her in fear before recognizing her, reaching for her with tiny hands. Guiding him out, she picked him up. "Your mama is a bit busy at the moment, but she'll be back soon."

Murphy mumbled 'okay', burying his face into her neck. She frantically looked back, seeing a group of lost looking preteens. "Hey, it's this way! Follow me!" They rushed to follow her as Zafrina guided them to a hidden cave that had been designated as the place where the children and vulnerable would hide until it was over.

Zafrina saw her young cousins huddled to the side, and placed Murphy with them. "Keep him entertained, boys!" She tried to be enthusiastic to Adella's twin sons, Seth and Jamorian, hiding how afraid she was. Bay and Zafrina's three sisters, Zoe, Zaidee and Zelda hurried around the corner, beckoning a group of elderly merfolk. "How many more?" Zafrina asked when they reached her, instinctively taking Bay's hand when he reached her.

"Not many." Zaidee said, gasping for breath. Reuniting with her parents and younger sisters had been very awkward; her sisters were a little resentful that she had left without saying goodbye, leaving them to grieve. But that had thankfully been set aside for now.

"Mom and dad are telling us to stay here..." Zoe brought up, and Zafrina paused; she hadn't considered that her three sisters would get involved, although they were certainly old enough and skilful enough to defend themselves. Even so, after all that had happened, she wanted to protect them. She turned to them, initially planning to tell them to go into the cave, but something changed her mind.

"I'd prefer you to stay safe and out of it, but..." Zafrina hesitated before embracing three of them; it could be the last time. "I can't force you to hide while I go help. I'd be a hypocrite by making you stay here while we're gone... it's your decision." While her sisters began to debate with one another about whether they would join the battle or not, Zafrina spotted Melody and Finn approaching with more kids and their mothers, a group of their older teenaged cousins not far behind.

They exchanged glances, and before they could be spotted, they hurried out of sight before Sebastian could realize they hadn't gone in themselves.

"The others can take care of the rest." Finn said, as they swam past the distracted merfolk who headed for the cave. Most of Melody and Zafrina's young cousins hurried past, while the older ones aged over seventeen had decided to disobey Ariel's sisters - some of whom were their mothers - and help in the battle. Eventually, Zafrina's sisters joined them too, heading away with their cousins to join the fight.

"We seriously need to discuss a plan." Melody said, as she reached them, nervously handling her staff. They all had a weapon, with Finn carrying the sword and he had also agreed to wear Ontari's necklace around his neck just in case - with the sword he was a target, so it was best for him to wear it for a fast escape.

"We don't have one!" Bay pointed out. "We're not entirely sure what we're going to do."

"Look, we've got to assume that Lysidus is going to head into the palace, if he's as sentimental as we think. We need to keep the sword safe above everything else." Finn held the handle of the sword tightly at this statement. They went to join the battlefield, coming up over a rocky rise in the seabed, but before heading down they stopped to observe.

"What a surprise." Zafrina muttered, and Melody took a moment to realize what she meant. She spotted their cousins defiantly facing Ariel's sisters, some of whom were their mothers.

"Absolutely not!" Alana insisted, racing up to her daughters; Zafrina's heart filled with worry for Zoe, Zaidee and Zelda. "You're not risking your lives -"

"You need all the help you can get!" Zaidee said, firmly. "Come on. You've sheltered us all our whole lives; we're not kids anymore. We're perfectly capable of fighting without getting hurt -"

"The barrier." Whispered Finn, and his grip on Melody's hand tightened.

There was a faint sound, like a glacier groaning and breaking. The faint shimmer of the force field grew intense, and cracks of light began to spread all across it, as if it were an ice sheet slowly cracking. It came from the seabed, a brilliant yellow light blazing like the sun. For a moment the barrier shimmered - then, suddenly, pieces of gold began to fall like fruit from a tree, sinking and slowly disintegrating into nothing. Then, all at once, it disappeared completely, shattering and fading into nothing.

"Oh, no." Melody whispered, and a familiar coldness gripped her as she saw them. There they were, the remaining nightlings flanking Lysidus, who wore the glowing yellow stone on his chest; he had crafted a chain onto the stone, which now hung around his neck. Confidently, they strode over the former barrier, no longer at risk of disintegration.

"But there's only seven of them!" The group heard several exclamations of relief. Melody filled with the urge to shout a warning; they had no idea. Briefly they went to join those who had gathered.

"Wait." Bay said. "We can't let him see where the sword is - we have to catch him off guard if we're to have a chance." They sank down, watching as Lysidus and his minions came forward. The broken nose Melody had inflicted upon Lysidus, as well as any wounds the nightlings previously had, were completely healed. However, Xanth, the young teenager guarding the sword, was covered in new bruises and wounds. He hid his eyes in the floor, on the verge of tears.

"Look at what they've done to him." Zafrina muttered, in sympathy and horror. "So much for them being a 'family'! Are they going to force him to fight too?"

"Well, well... this is fifty years overdue, isn't it?" Lysidus proclaimed, his voice projected by the stone. The merfolk shifted uneasily. Leading had fallen onto Attina's shoulders, being the eldest with more years spent as a queen in Delorea.

"We can't speak for the past mistakes." Attina said, bitterly. "You can still swim away from this, and you can live in peace -"

"Oh, we will, don't you worry about that!" Answered Corva, and Zafrina and Bay's blood boiled. Ariel's sisters looked at one another; it was non-negotiable. There was no changing his mind. Zafrina watched her mother and sisters, where Adonis was in a protective stance before them. Suddenly she wished she had told Zoe, Zaidee and Zelda to stay in the cave.

"I hope you prepared yourselves." Lysidus said, in a voice devoid of emotion. The stone began to glow, but as several merfolk began to panic, thinking that it was already over; this wasn't the case. Lysidus wanted to torment them as much as possible. Several yellow lights appeared, twisting and growing in size.

"What is he doing?" Finn didn't like the look of intense thought on Lysidus' face.

"...he's making something." Zafrina deduced, eyes widening.

"Like what?" Bay asked, in confusion. "What could he possibly -" Then they started to take shape. A horrible, groaning roar came from one of the lights. Of course; six nightlings against thirty merfolk was laughable. Lysidus was creating help...

"What are those things?" Melody's voice was a horrified whisper.

Grey flesh appearing where there had been light before. They had a long, whip-like tail and four enormous fins sprouted. The head came into existence with huge, snapping jaws. A glowing yellow stripe ignited both creature's eyes and flanks, like the stone's light, and the eyes themselves had no pupils - just blank, yellow orbs. Ten identical creatures between three and four metres in length. Lysidus smiled at the sight of horror on the faces of the merpeople. He pointed at the crowd and the beasts turned, bristling spikes appearing along their backs as their blank eyes found their target. The nightlings moved forwards too, weapons held, as they began to charge alongside the conjured creatures.

The merpeople seized their weapons, shocked and afraid, but determined. "Come on!" Shouted Adella, seizing a spear. The gathered merfolk charged forwards, tearing across the sandbed, and there was a collision as the two sides crashed together like two waves. Terrible, bestial screeches came from the conjured creatures, who looked prehistoric, from another time. The remaining nightlings began to engage in battle, heading directly for Ariel's sisters. It took three or four merpeople to confront each snapping creature.

The group looked on, torn and feeling more so as they saw Lysidus himself begin to slip away, heading for the palace as they had predicted. Zafrina kept shooting glances, scanning the crowd for her parents and sisters. "I should have told them to stay in the cave..."

"They'll be fine, Zafrina..." But Finn didn't sound certain. "We have to get to Lysidus before he starts his spell. We've got to go." For a moment Zafrina hesitated before nodding reluctantly. They swam a distance from the edge of battle, but it was here Zafrina suddenly spotted her youngest sister struggling with one of the male nightlings. Not really thinking, Zafrina charged down the slope, already deserting their plan.

"Wait!" Bay protested, but he was ignored as Zafrina disappeared into the battle. Melody looked from the stricken mermen to Lysidus who was getting further away with each second.

"I'll get her!" Melody exclaimed. "You guys go ahead! Catch Lysidus!" Bay looked reluctantly after Zafrina.

"But I -" Bay began to protest but he kept looking to Lysidus's shrinking form.

"Zafrina will be fine, I promise!" Melody knew her cousin could look after herself, but they were running out of time. It would take too long - it made more sense for Finn and Bay to go ahead while she retrieved Zafrina. "Trust me. I'll find her, and we'll catch up. Go!" Bay was torn, still looking into the crowd, before he shook himself. He turned and began to take chase. Finn looked at Melody, panic in his eyes. He quickly glanced back towards the battle, before he took her face and kissed her. The kiss lasted a heartbeat before he pulled away, aware of their limited time.

"Be careful." She caught his words as he spun round and followed Bay, the Abraxia sword in his grasp. Melody looked after him briefly, before turning and disappearing into the fray in search of Zafrina.


	43. Tick tock

Melody knew she was out of her depth immediately, dodging flying weapons, brawling merfolk and nightlings, and the snapping jaws of the conjured beasts. She wasn't like Zafrina, Finn or Bay. Zafrina was physically stronger and more skilled with her father's - and Bay's, later - training. And of course Finn and Bay had been trained their entire lives to fight. She wasn't a natural mermaid, she'd grown up sheltered, and she could barely shoot an arrow. She was wildly unprepared.

She ducked, sliding across the sand, the end of a spear narrowly missing her face. Leaping back up, Melody struck one of the demonic looking creatures with her staff as she passed, stunning it briefly. The merfolk around quickly dove in to take advantage of this distraction, attacking it with their weapons. Melody briefly froze, noticing that one of them was Andrina, staring at her. She waited for a scolding before her aunt shook her head in defeat.

"For goodness sake, be _careful!"_ Andrina exclaimed before resuming her attack. Melody continued on, thinking she had seen Zafrina's mint green tail.

Zafrina looked around the crowd, beginning to feel panic and regret. She had lost sight of her sister after seeing her being attacked, although she thought she had seen Zelda in the crowd a moment before. She was relieved to spot her, as well as Zaidee and Zoe, helping fight one of the conjured creatures. They looked as though they were no longer having a problem, gaining the upper hand.

"Zafrina!" Melody finally caught up to her, seizing her by both arms to stop herself colliding with her. "Finn and Bay have gone ahead, we've got to go before -" Zafrina then went rigid, eyes on something in the distance. Melody turned too and felt her heart leap into her throat. Two nightlings - there was no doubt in her mind which ones - had broken away from the battle and were charging after the distant forms of Finn and Bay.

"We've got to stop them -" Zafrina grabbed her hand and they hurried through the fray, but they didn't get very far; it was Alana and Arista, struggling with one of the huge creatures. Without question Zafrina went to the aid of her mother and aunt. Alana briefly looked infuriated that Zafrina was there but a snap of jaws distracted her. Melody began swiping at the creature with her staff, although it barely seemed effected.

The whip like tail came from nowhere, hitting Arista and Alana and sending them flying. The creature turned their way immediately, but then Zaidee shoved past with a spear in hand, driving through one of the animal's fins. Zafrina's other two sisters came between them and the monstrous creature.

"Go, get to Lysidus!" Zoe urged. "We've got this!" Zafrina grinned at her younger sisters, before she grabbed Melody yet again by the hand. They escaped the battle and raced after the trail of Lysidus, Finn, Bay, and the two nightlings. Adrenaline coursing, they charged toward the palace.

Triton's throne had not been touched since his demise, but now, a set of claw-like fingernails gouged into the arm rests, the seat itself. Lysidus stared hatefully at it, before he turned to the trident. An idea came to mind; perhaps, if he used the trident too, he could make the process a lot faster, given control of the seas. Yet as he tried to take it from the stand, it would not move. He pulled, ordered the stone to extract it, but for a rare occasion, it failed. The trident held fast, bound by the charm that only allowed a desecendant of the sea king to take it. Confused and annoyed, Lysidus gave up.

"We'll have to wait a little longer, then." He said, irritably, before wrapping his hand around the stone around his neck. The stone blazed, light filling the entire room. The water shook and a wave of energy blasted through the space.

Finn and Bay entered the palace, pausing briefly; they hadn't been in there much, and they'd entered some sort of corridor with a lot of stone columns. It looked unfamiliar; Lysidus had entered through the back which wasn't frequently used. Perhaps it was the nighttime that made it look dark and somewhat sinister. Several entrances lay ahead at the end of the room. "Which one?" Finn asked, but before Bay could respond, there was a tremor.

"Woah." Bay grabbed Finn by the arm, startled. Tremors weren't unheard of, albeit rare in Atlantica. Although there was something... strange about it. It felt like an invisible power surge, and unbeknownst to them, it travelled throughout the entire ocean, passing the battlefield, spreading to the very ends of the Earth. It was felt everywhere – Belixia, Wundagore, the Ice Kingdoms, even Zafrina's southern kingdom, and beyond.

Merpeople were awoken from sleep, they stopped what they were doing, and they came out of their homes, looking around in confusion. The older ones began to tremble; they'd felt it before, fifty years ago. In their hidden corner of Wundagore, Rhapsody and Lokia clung to one another, horrified, as they immediately _knew._ Back on land, Ariel came to the balcony, Marco at her ankle, and Florian in her arms.

"Ariel?" Eric asked; he'd felt something too. Marco began to whine, before he turned and dove under the bed, whimpering. Ariel didn't answer, her eyes fixed on a yellow beam of light that had erupted from the ocean. It shone in the distance briefly, before disappearing. An enormous wave crashed against the foot of the palace walls.

On the battlefield, Attina filled with pride, seeing how the monstrous creatures were slowly dying one by one, with only a few left, and the remaining nightlings were beginning to tire, vastly outnumbered. Her relief dissipated immediately when she saw a blinding flash of light in the distance, from the direction of the palace, before she suddenly noticed Aquata, who had gone still. With a gasp, she leapt forwards to jam her spear in front of a nightling's sword, preventing it from striking her. She knocked the nightling away and spun round to her. "Aquata, what are you doing? You were almost killed -" Attina stopped, noticing a peculiar expression on her sister's face. "Aquata?"

"I feel... strange..." a muscle twitched near Aquata's eye. As she noticed this, Attina could have sworn she saw a flash of yellow in her eyes. Aquata wasn't the only one - she noticed Zaidee, also wearing the same odd expression while Zoe and Zelda shook her in bewilderment. Across the entire ocean, one after the other, merpeople began to feel strange. Some twitched, some shook, some collapsed.

Aquata slipped to the floor, and her sisters rushed to her side. Attina looked around in horror, where Zaidee was struggling to stay afloat, a merman was shaking like a leaf with his hands on his temples, and now, Adella was twitching. The same thing happened across the ocean; one at a time, merpeople felt it and began to feel the spell take hold. In Wundagore, Ravenna was shaking a barely moving Narcissus, and behind her, baby Wanda was crying shrilly. Rhapsody began to weep as she saw an elderly mermaid sink to the floor in pain, and Lokia looked on, hands clasped over her mouth.

"Something's wrong..." Bay whispered. Finn wondered what he meant, but before he could ask, something - or rather someone - caught his attention. He could hear voices approaching fast. He pulled Bay to the side, before shoving him away, hard. Bay smacked into a stone column with a gasp of surprise, about to demand why. Finn placed a finger to his lips, pointing at the dark entrance, as he siddled behind his own column. They looked at each other, hearts racing. Finn peered around the column, eyes dark.

It was Corva and Proximus, slowly moving down the corridor. Finn quickly moved back behind the column, eyes fixed on Bay, praying that they would leave. But they knew something was in the room with them. "I heard something..." muttered one of them.

After perhaps a minute, Bay blinked, before flinching, as though feeling a stitch. Finn took no notice, although in the corner of his eye, he saw Bay flinch again, clutching his side this time. He looked at his friend, confused, but didn't whisper in case he gave away their position. For a fleeting moment, he swore he saw a flash of yellow in Bay's silver eyes.

Bay released an unexpected cry of pain - Finn didn't see a wound, so he must have been struck from behind. A hand snatched him by the tail fins and Bay began to scream in terror as he was dragged out from his hiding place, fingers leaving gouges in the sand as he tried to resist.

Finn cried out his friend's name and went to leap from hiding, before a metal blade slashed into the column, inches from his forehead. With a gasp he ducked and he and Proximus began to fight for ownership of the metal spear. With a grunt of effort Finn shoved Proximus, punching him in the face, and he crashed through the crumbling wall, sending dust flying. Corva immediately raced after him.

Finn crouched by Bay where he lay face down on the floor, but there was no wound on his back, as he thought. He pulled Bay up, pulling his arm over his shoulder before rushing down the corridor in search of somewhere to hide. All too soon Bay began to slip from his grasp and they were forced to stop. Finn helped him sit behind a boulder, where Bay leaned heavily on it, a look of pain on his face.

"What did they do? Show me!" Finn pried away Bay's hands, scanning his torso, tail, everywhere. But there was no visible wound, to his confusion. "I don't understand... why did you -" Bay looked at Finn, looking as confused as he felt, before releasing another gasp of pain, clinging to his friend's hand. His eyes occasionally flashed a familiar yellow and he looked around fearfully. "Speak to me, Bay!"

"We're too late..." Before Finn could process what was said, Bay gasped. "Look out!" Proximus launched himself at him, covered in dust, his eyes ablaze. Bay tried and failed to rise, crippled by a sense of pain that radiated throughout his entire being, while Finn desperately tried to protect him, aware that he could fall victim to the spell at any moment.


	44. I love you

Bay was struggling to move, his breath locked inside his chest; it hurt so much. It was like his cells were being torn apart and stitched back together as the burning moved through him like waves, one after the other; the moment it passed and he had a moment of relief, the pain began once again as another wave rushed in. He buckled slightly, seeing a thin band of yellow energy travel along his body, like electricity.

Finn glanced over his shoulder at Bay, knowing he had to take the fight away from him. Not really thinking, he launched himself head first into Proximus' chest, throwing his arms and complete body weight into him. They crashed into the crumbling wall in cloud of dust, and Bay heard their yells fading as they tumbled down the tower side. He attempted to drag himself over to the hole in the wall, but, crippled by pain, slumped back and gave up.

 _Come on, you've got to move…_ Bay's body didn't respond to his mind's plea; that connection have been damaged. It hurt too much to try. Just then, there was a flicker in the corner of his eye, and he shook his head, so defeated at this point. His pain turned to hatred as Corva crouched beside him, dust turning her white hair grey, her unnaturally bright eyes intently on him.

"Maybe you should catch up to your hubby." Bay tried not to show his pain, but the yellow bands moving through his skin gave it away. Corva tilted her head, tracing one of the yellow lights with the tip of her dagger, making his skin crawl.

"My husband is perfectly capable of looking after himself." She said, coolly. "And I'd much rather see you suffer." Corva's eyes took on a nostalgic, whimsical look. It was here Bay realized that she, Lysidus and Proximus were either evil, psychotic, or both. "Thinking of a good time. The first time this happened, fifty years ago, we were so close until Circe locked us all up. One of the setbacks of this spell is that it's not an instant fix. It takes a little time."

"It choses random merpeople from all across the sea, one by one, until all of them are feeling the effects. Once all of them are affected, all of them begin to die, again, one by one. We came so close to completion last time, some of the unlucky first merpeople actually died, made so weak by the spell even after it ended… that doesn't bode well for you, does it? There's a few more to go. I heard the pain is unbearable to witness, let alone endure, but I'll do my best…"

"I didn't ask for a history lesson." Bay muttered, bitterly, despite how much these words terrified him.

"It's over for you. You'll die knowing your failure. When I kill you, I'll go find your pretty friends, and I'll make sure they die knowing how painful your death was. Your girlfriend will be devastated, knowing you died here alone..." Corva moved like a flash, her hand locked around his throat, the blade pressing against one of his arteries.

"Any last words? And don't try to be funny." She growled. Bay looked up her, pain spreading through him, a hot, searing wave. His strength trickling away, Bay couldn't flee. He glared back, thinking of Zafrina, Finn and Melody. He thought of a response, and he knew what simple, bitter thing Zafrina would say.

"I hate you." Just as Corva drew back her arm, a miracle happened. She was wrenched away from him and the dagger clattered to the floor beside Bay. He looked up in shock, and his heart fought back when it had just begun to give up.

Zafrina and Corva rolled across the floor, while Melody entered a few seconds later, not sure who to help. She noticed Bay and started toward him but he frantically shook his head. "Finn... Finn's outside. The sword, Melody, the sword..." With a cold shock of horror, Melody remembered that Finn had the sword, and their only way to stop it all. She went through the hole in the wall and dove straight down, where she could see Finn and Proximus struggling on the sea floor.

Bay's weak fingers tried to fasten around the dropped dagger. There was a shriek from the whirlwind of colour; Zafrina had scratched Corva with her fingernails, since her weapon had gone flying from her hand. Corva snatched up Lokia's spear, and then she struck Zafrina in the temple with the end. Zafrina's head spun as Corva seized the opportunity; she flung her to the floor, pinning her down with the spear.

Zafrina struggled with all her strength, but Corva's weight on the spear was simply too heavy. Her horrible face hovered inches above hers, three thin scratches carved into her cheek where Zafrina had scratched her. Her eyes danced with madness and delight, for she hated Zafrina most of all. "You can die together, then. How romantic." Corva drew back her arm, a massive stone in hand, ready to crush it into the mermaid's skull. The stone, instead of striking Zafrina however, clattered to the floor.

There was a strangled gasp abruptly cut off. Corva went rigid above Zafrina, her mouth open and locked in a silent scream, eyes bulging in her head. Zafrina frantically scrabbled back on her hands and tail at the disturbing sight. The nightling fell to the floor, revealing Bay, clinging to a column to stay upright. The dagger Corva had dropped was now embedded in her upper back.

The nightling jerked before she lay still, eyes blank and still forever. In shock, Zafrina slowly looked at Bay, mouth hanging open. He gazed at her with glazed eyes, breathing heavily, before his last energy gave out. She rushed to catch him before he could hit the ground, and his weight almost made her buckle. He was limp, a dead weight in her arms.

"No, Bay, no..." Zafrina leaned him against the column. His face was as cold as ice and the colour of snow, he seemed to be struggling to stay awake. Most perplexing was that he wasn't wounded at all. He was simply in pain, his eyes flashing the same colour as the Abraxia stone, thin bands of light rippling from his head to his tail. She didn't understand, looking frantically from his face to the sparks beneath his skin. "What's going on? Look at me..." Bay gripped her wrists, so hard he left pale bands on her darker skin, both with desperation and pain.

"I think it's started... the spell..."

"What? That's impossible..."

"Corva told me herself... it is, Rina..."

"No... it can't be. I don't feel..." Zafrina suddenly thought she heard distant cries of pain. She rushed to the hole in the wall and saw the battlefield. There was no more fighting, the conjured animals were all dead. And it looked as though the remaining nightlings were overwhelmed and outnumbered, cornered by several merpeople. But there were at least a dozen merfolk laying on the floor. Another fell to the floor as Zafrina looked on.

"That makes no sense! It's affecting random merpeople... one by one? I don't understand -"

"Lucky me..." Bay smiled through the pain, flinching continuously. Zafrina fell to the floor beside him, cradling his head with one palm, her other clinging to his hand. Bay gritted his teeth as a fresh wave of pain travelled through him, but he only thought of her, and how she was now, literally, his only way to live. "Zafrina, you've got to go."

"What?"

"Go to Lysidus. Grab Melody and go." Zafrina knew what he was telling her to do. To leave him here, alone and in pain, possibly to die.

"I won't leave you." She whispered. "I can't..." Bay shook his head, reaching for her as she began to panic.

"Zafrina, please, look at me." Bay took her hand and pressed it lovingly to his face. He looked into her fierce gold eyes, the ones he had fallen in love with, where they were filled with tears. It was this moment he realized just how much she loved him. "I don't want to say it. But I'm dying."

"No," she choked.

"Yes, I am. But you can change that. If you don't go on, I'm going to die, and so will you, Melody, Finn and everyone else. There'll be nothing left, but you can stop it... you can save me. I know you can." Zafrina shook her head with closed eyes, refusing still. "I thought you were working on being less stubborn?"

"Even when you're dying you're a complete idiot..." Zafrina trailed off before she held his face once more, hands in his short blonde hair. Bay grew desperate, his lip shook and his voice cracked.

 _"Please,"_ He begged, in the softest voice. It was the same 'please' as when she had found him in his beaten state - only this time, he was begging her to leave, not to stay. Bay was crying silently, his heart breaking before her eyes. "Before it takes you too."

There was a pause. Zafrina was in tears, shaking her head slowly. Then she pressed her lips to his forehead. "Just wait here for me, love." Zafrina whispered. "I'll be back. I promise." Bay gazed at her, twitching with pain.

"Go." He said, softly. "I'll be waiting." He would wait forever. And if forever came to a close, he would close his eyes and dream of her.

* * *

Finn landed hard on the ground, and the force of his landing sent the sword flying from his hand. To Melody's horror, Proximus sprang forward and seized the black blade. He laughed in triumph, before taking off into the seaweed.

"No, no, no -" Melody floated, hands buried into her hair. "Without the sword, we're doomed! What do we do?" Finn looked from the palace to the seaweed, biting his lip, before realizing what he had to do.

"I'll... I'll have to chase him down." They looked at Ontari's necklace around Finn's neck. Finn took her hand and kissed it before reaching for the glass bottle. "I have to go." Melody stopped him, seizing his hands before they could touch the pendant.

"Finn, you can't. You can't do it alone... he'll kill you..."

Finn held her by both arms, eyes locked on her. "We don't have time. Bay is... out for the count. It'll take too long for you to help me get the sword - and Zafrina can't face Lysidus alone. It has to be both of you. Someone has to go to that room, and it has to be you and Zafrina. I have to get the sword back in the mean time. Get the trident - it'll be your best chance against him."

"Finn..."

"I know you almost lost me." Finn held her face as though it were something very precious. "But it won't happen again. I promised you." Melody wanted to protest, but she knew he was right. "You've got to go. That spell is hitting us one by one - it's a lottery. One of us could fall down at any moment, we've got to use this time we have left. I need to find him and get the sword back, and you need to get the stone in the meantime." Melody looked up at him, and they both realized. The last time. If they failed, they'd never see each other again.

Melody looked at him. "I have every faith in you. But... I can't face him! I'm not like you or Zafrina or Bay -"

"Melody, you need to have faith in yourself. You are the most incredible mermaid I've ever known. You can face him - you faced Morgana and Nia, of all people. Alright, so you had your grandfather's and my help those times, but I know you could face Lysisus alone if you had to. But you've got Zafrina - and it shouldn't come to that anyway..." Finn looked at her with his enormous eyes, and Melody saw the stricken gaze, the fear and the dread. And above that, heartbreak. He was terrified for her. "I have to go..." He turned to leave with a heavy heart. But then Melody seized him by the shoulder and whirled him around.

Melody launched herself at him, throwing her arms around his neck. Their kisses were usually very soft, chaste, and comfortable, but not now, when it could be their last, this possible last moment she stole for both of them. Her kiss was alive, fierce, aflame, pulling the air out of Finn's lungs, her hands caging the sides of his face. Finn returned with a vengeance, pouring passion against her lips, his hands in her raven hair. It took all Melody's will to release him and back away.

"I love you." She said.

He took the necklace in hand, and was gone.


	45. Peril

Melody raced up to the palace, initially headed for the hole made by Finn and Proximus. However, before she could enter, she heard her name being called. Turning, Melody spotted Zafrina beckoning her from a window a few corridors away. Puzzled, she entered through the window. There was a look on Zafrina's face she didn't like, a look of terror and desperation. Her hands were clasped together and pressed to her lips. Melody filled with dread; Corva and Bay were no where to be seen.

"Is Bay okay? Where's Corva?" When she'd seen him briefly, he was pale and looked as though he were in agony. Zafrina looked at her with glossy eyes, and it took her a moment to respond.

"I couldn't stay. I had to leave him, I couldn't bear to watch... he begged me to go." Melody was more confused than ever. "Corva's dead. She came close to killing me, Bay killed her before she could. The spell got him and he's getting weaker. It's hitting merpeople, randomly and one at a time. We've got to hurry. Otherwise..." Melody's heart suddenly felt very heavy, her stomach sinking.

"He's dying?" For some stupid reason Melody asked, and immediately regretted her insensitivity. Zafrina pursed her lips together and looked as though she were about to cry. She gave a little nod.

"We all are." Melody covered her mouth and embraced Zafrina, not caring that they were wasting time. Zafrina held her tight, shuddering slightly. "Where's Finn? The sword?" Zafrina stared at her, when Melody didn't respond. "The _sword_ , Melody?"

"...we lost it." Melody was afraid to tell her. "Proximus took off with it, but Finn's going after it. He'll find it." For a moment Zafrina went to protest, that they needed the sword first, but then she remembered their dwindling time, and Bay, how he was growing weaker. She gave Melody a little nod, lips pressed together, trying to ignore the sound of a moan coming from a few corridors away.

"Well... let's go get the stone." They were on edge, on constant alert as they waited for another one of the nightlings to burst out of hiding, or for the first sign of pain, but there was nothing as they headed to the abandoned throne room. They burst inside, not thinking to hide or creep up to give them more time to find a plan. There was no time for planning.

The trident was still in the stand, but perhaps as a precaution, a lot of rocks had been piled around it to make it difficult to extract. At first Melody figured it was one of their aunts, but a paranoid Lysidus seemed more likely, as the stones appeared to have been literally torn from the wall. If he couldn't extract the trident from the stand, he could at least try to stop anyone from taking it themselves. The throne had been defaced, claw marks an huge chunks missing, with blackness and singe marks showing how it had taken blasts from the stone.

His back was to them, light coursing through his skin, his head bowed to show that his eyes were fixed on the stone. The room vibrated as invisible bands of power coursed through it, and Melody looked at her cousin. "We'll get the stone and get out, agreed?" Zafrina nodded in response, eyes burning with determination. Melody held her staff and Zafrina brandished the metal glaive Corva had used to pin her down. They locked eyes for a moment, before focusing on Lysidus.

Melody wondered what they could possibly do to stop this. Lysidus was armed with the most powerful artefact in the sea. Their best chance was the trident but he was directly between them and it. She opened her mouth, to calmly say his name, but Zafrina lost patience and greeted him for her.

"Hey, demon!" She shouted, angrily.

Lysidus's head snapped up and he whirled round, eyes wide with shock. They narrowed immediately, and though his hands moved away from the stone around his neck, the stone still glowed, a tiny, blinding sun in the centre of his chest as it continued to carry out it's awful deed. "Well, well. So Corva and Proximus didn't receive my message?"

"Let's just say Corva won't be responding anytime soon." Melody heard Zafrina mutter as she moved forwards, a small flower of hope still blooming in her chest that she could talk him down, although Zafrina looked doubtful. "Melody, I seriously doubt we can talk our way out of this."

"We've got to try." Melody whispered, before looking Lysidus square in the face. She'd tried this before, she wanted to try it one more time...

"Please, Lysidus, it doesn't have to be like this. If you really cared about your nightlings, you'd stop. You've condemned them them to endless life. Only you and those two want this, but the others want nothing to do with it! They'd be perfectly happy living normal lives among merfolk, but you won't let them."

"Rhapsody, Lokia and that boy, Xanth, who you punished for losing the sword... if you really view them as family this is the time to prove it. End this spell, free them from the life they don't want, and we can figure something out. You could use that stone to disappear anywhere you want. Do you really want to live for all time in an empty ocean, in that same loop forever?"

For a moment Melody thought she saw a little conflict in him, but it was merely his inner panic that they were here. He hadn't acknowledged a word. In his hand there was a new light – for a moment Melody was afraid he was going to conjure another monstrous creature. Instead, from this light came a glowing, translucent sword fringed in fiery yellow light. Melody's heart lurched. _I'll take that as a no._ Zafrina swung the metal spear up so it pointed at him, and Melody put both hands on her staff. Lysidus made an animalistic snarl, and then sliced his sword through the sand, leaving a deep gouge in it.

"Your grandfather will be so proud."

Melody's stomach twisted brutally but she leapt forwards. She expected the translucent sword to cut through her staff immediately, but it seemed as though Lysidus was distracted, the weapon not being as powerful as it could be. His eyes flickered constantly, he seemed to be twitching in pain; the spell and the fight was too much for him to balance. His hair already looked thinner, his face sunken, but he was powerful nonetheless.

As they fought, she was thinking about more merpeople across the sea falling to the floor, and Bay, somewhere in the palace, his life trickling away with each passing minute. They had to hurry. Melody kept glancing across to the trident, but there was no time to go and grab it, and Lysidus was aware that they kept looking at both it and the stone, and he was blocking their path to both.

Zafrina attacked Lysidus from the other side, but as he struggled to cope with two attackers, the sword changed form. He took it in both hands and it grew in length, morphing into a staff with blades at both ends. Melody's mouth dropped but she had less time to be in shock as the blade was coming for her. She ducked, but was too slow as she got struck on the face, on her cheek. Melody suddenly remembered that Finn had lended her his knife, more useful than her blunt staff, as Lysidus whirled round to Zafrina who had released an angry yell upon seeing the scratch on Melody's face.

Melody had never tried to kill someone before, but this didn't cross her mind as she leapt forward, the knife glistening as she drove it into his side. Zafrina gasped and they leapt back, and Melody looked at him, shocked by what she had just done. Lysidus stared at them as he slowly, painfully extracted the knife from his ribcage; but there was no blood. A light suddenly manifested in the wound, and then, it was gone, the wound healed in a heartbeat. A blast of light came from the end of his weapon, aimed at her, but a blur leapt between Melody and the light.

"Zafrina!" Melody shouted as she crashed into the wall. Rage filling her, she attacked Lysidus with more ferocity, alternating between swinging her weapon and making swipes for the stone around his neck. Zafrina raised her head, feeling a cut on the back of her scalp, through blurred vision she saw Melody and Lysidus fighting.

Melody saw Zafrina get up from where she had been sent flying, and like a flash, Zafrina grabbed the glaive. She lunged, leaping behind Lysidus and holding the pole horizontally under his chin, brutally crushing the spear against his throat. Her knuckles turned white as she strained. Lysidus gasped and struggled, caught off guard. Melody looked in bewilderment, before realizing the opportunity Zafrina was giving her.

"Melody! The stone, _get the stone!"_ Zafrina shouted, invisible behind Lysidus' head.

Finn manifested above Proximus who released a surprised shriek. They collided and went flying across the rock, and Finn was surprised to see that they were in darkness. He recognized the sea as a network of caves below the palace - Proximus had gotten surprisingly far in the brief time he'd spent with Melody. He filled with unease, as this place was said to be both haunted and extremely unstable. It looked as though just _touching_ a stalactite would cause it to crumble to dust.

They had come down here towards the start of the year to explore, but Bay, remembering what happened in Neptune's Scar, had grown uncomfortable at being surrounded by darkness and stone. Finn himself was relieved, for he swore he kept seeing eerie shadows playing on the walls, and it seemed unbearably cold down there. The familiar chill, like being in icy waters, was around them now.

"How many times must I try to kill you lot?" Proximus didn't flee into the tunnels as Finn expected him to, although it would certainly have been easy for him to hide in them until it was too late. Finn lunged for the sword, yet at they struggled, he suddenly felt pressure at his neck; there was a snap as the chain broke and Proximus tore the necklace away. "I've had enough!" At first Finn's heart imploded, as he thought that Proximus was going to use the necklace to transport himself out, miles away, where nobody would find him or the sword.

But to Finn's surprise, Proximus crushed it in his fist. Finn stared in horror as the remnants of the necklace fell to the floor, the purple powder inside dissolving into the water. "No more magic! No more quick escapes!"

Finn was in a mess. Proximus was right - he couldn't get away if things grew dire, and most importantly, he couldn't get to Melody and Zafrina immediately when or if he got the sword back. It would take time to find them, and by then any of them could fall under the spell. If he fell down here in the caves, they'd never find him...

"I'm sick of you, so I'll kill you here and now!" Proximus wielded the magical sword and Finn realized he was in more trouble than he realized. It was hard to defend himself from a sword that could cut through anything.

He dodged a swipe of the blade and it cut clean through a large stalactmite, sending a chunk of rock flying. A few pebbles tumbled down, hitting them both on the heads, and Finn looked up in worry; would the ceiling collapse? Finn seized the sword handle again, and it dangerously shot back and forth.

The caves made suspicious sounds, cracks and distant shaking, as the palace above it vibrated with the stone's power. Finn had to get the sword now, before the place collapsed, or before Proximus killed him. He released a gasp of pain as the sword caught him on the arm; it left a burning feeling, as though he'd been struck by a piece of burning coal.

Across the ocean, more merpeople were collapsing, crying out in pain while others looked on, completely bewildered. Half of the merfolk on the battlefield were on the floor, while the remaining four nightlings looked on, horrified by what they saw. If any of them had bought into Lysidus' idea, it was gone now.

"What have we done?"


	46. Strength

A few corridors away, Bay had slipped from a sitting position to lying flat on the floor. His fingers dug into the sandy ground, tears gathering at the corners of his terrified silver eyes. His gaze was fixed on the ceiling as he felt the pain radiating constantly through him, one wave after the other. He clenched his teeth, his breath dangerously fast, mouth trembling as he tried to hold back his sounds of agony. There was a sudden burst of searing pain, and he jerked onto his side, curling up in a foetal position.

Bay cried out in pain, but this one was weaker than the last. He felt darkness tugging at his eyelids, whispering into his mind that it would be less painful, if he closed his eyes. _It'll stop, if you just closed your eyes..._ it sounded like Lysidus' voice. Bay wasn't fooled. He kept them wide open, his fingers tracing one of Zafrina's bangles he'd placed on his wrist.

Finn leaned back further than he thought possible, trying to avoid the blade that was coming for his throat. Proximus forced the blade closer, painfully bending Finn's forearm back, eyes searing into him. It was a look Finn had seen before - it was the same look Ontari had worn before stabbing him, a look of pure hatred and malice. "This is the end for you, boy." Proximus growled, so close to his face.

Melody lunged for the stone at Lysidus' neck, seizing it in her hand; it vibrated and burned in her grasp, like an ember that was only just cool enough to hold. She pulled at the stone, but it was attached it to the chain Lysidus had formed, his neck in the way. Zafrina was holding the spear under his throat, the spear and her hands blocking it, so Melody couldn't pull it over his head. The chain didn't had a clasp, and it was magically made, she likely couldn't just rip it off. Zafrina was screaming at her.

"Get the necklace! _Get the necklace!"_

 _"I can't!"_ Melody shrieked, trying everything from trying to tear it free to trying to cut the chain with Finn's knife, to no avail. Zafrina also tried to seize the necklace too, but in that moment her grasp loosened. Lysidus's hands curled around the spear and shoved it forwards.

Melody was struck full on, knocking her into the wall. Lysidus waved his hand and stones tumbled down, pulled by yellow bands of energy and the rocks crushed her, pushing her into the floor. She gasped at the weight, and tried desperately to push them away, but it was too much for her. The glaive briefly turned yellow before it was incinerated, leaving a cloud of ash where it had been, but in this moment, Zafrina pulled the stone over Lysidus' head.

Lysidus whirled round to face her. She went to leap back, but Lysidus' huge hand seized her by the neck. Zafrina tried to gasp but his monstrous grip tightened as he thrust her into the water high above the palace floor. He snatched the stone from her hand and held it far from her reach, holding her even higher with his other hand that was locked around her throat.

Zafrina fought for breath, writhing and struggling, her hands clawing at his arm to no avail. It was her worst fear, the most terrifying way to die in her eyes, and Lysidus full well knew that, using the stone to peer into her mind to view her memory of Otan. He squeezed harder, and Zafrina's gasps for breath ceased as she could no longer breathe.

Melody desperately pushed at the rocks that trapped her, ready to give up, her strength fading with Zafrina's life. She was trapped, like a fish in a net. _I can't._ She looked at Lysidus, who had his back to her, eyes fixed on Zafrina as she struggled violently, her lips parted as she continued to gasp for air. Her tail was thrashing, but slowly growing weaker. His mouth moved, showing that he was speaking to Zafrina, likely taunting her, but Melody didn't hear what he was saying. Her heartbeat and the strangled gasps of her cousin was all she heard.

A candle was lit inside Melody as she thought of all Lysidus had done. He had caused them that whole journey. His memory had tormented her grandfather in is final days. It weren't for him, they wouldn't have had to travel to Wundagore. By extension, Finn would never have been killed and brought back to life; Bay wouldn't have been stabbed and beaten to oblivion; Zafrina and Melody's relationship wouldn't have been wounded.

Melody remembered what Finn had said to her. She was stronger than she thought she was. Perhaps she wasn't as skilled as the others, but she was so much more. Finn thought she was the bravest mermaid he'd ever known, and he loved her. _Love._ It was a short but beautiful word, so easy to say with it's smooth, single syllable. Lysidus knew nothing of it.

A strength she had never known filled Melody, her fury fuelling her as she looked at Lysidus and thought about what he had done and what he was doing now to Zafrina. The candle spat, sending drops of fire, and the flames spread, slowly consuming her. The room was on fire, ablaze as she watched Lysidus torment Zafrina. His grasp was growing dangerously tight, and Melody then realized what he was trying to do.

 _He's trying to break her neck._ The room exploded, flames leaping out of the windows, as Melody surged with all her power. The rocks shifted, and then she could move.

Melody wriggled free of the rubble, immediately tearing across the room to the trident. She wrapped her hand around the handle, and pulled; the rocks Lysidus had placed were no use. The trident sprung free and glowed to life for the first time in months. She whipped round, pointing it as Lysidus who was so focused on Zafrina he didn't notice her. "Hey!" she yelled, as the golden metal glowed fiercely. "You like beams so much? How about this one!"

Lysidus gasped and released Zafrina, where she fell in a heap to the safety of the floor. He tried to move but was too slow. Golden light burst from the three prongs, and struck him with an earsplitting crack. Lysidus went flying through the water, struck with such force he crashed clean through the palace wall. Melody rushed to help Zafrina off the seabed, where she was gasping to refill her lungs. "Are you okay?" Zafrina looked up, and despite what just happened, she grinned, the brightest smile Melody had ever seen.

"That was wicked, Mel."

They turned to face Lysidus who picked himself up from the hole in the wall. He reached the dropped stone before they could. Zafrina picked up Melody's staff, while she held the glowing trident. "What do we do?" Zafrina asked, uncertainly and with fear. Melody looked up at the columns, as he came charging at them. She blasted the trident, severing the columns without thinking, intending to bury Lysidus. Another light streamed from his hands; a ceiling of yellow light propped up the ceiling, suspending the roof on a golden web. The palace roof floated above them, cracks forming across it behind the web.

"Watch out -" yelled Zafrina in warning as Lysidus aimed the stone at them. Melody immediately pointed the trident, and a stream of gold came shooting out to meet the yellow one. The moment the two beams hit, trident and Abraxia stone, the sound was ear-shattering. All three were sent flying by the explosion, and a pulse of energy blasted in all directions, through the seabed and below, into the unstable tunnels.

Finn and Proximus stopped fighting, looking up as dust fell from the ceiling. The room briefly shook, but that wasn't all. The cave started shaking, giant cracks splitting the ceiling.

 _It's collapsing._

Finn didn't have Ontari's necklace to escape this time. He had to swim for his life. He spun round, seeing a glimpse of blue up ahead, where the entrance was. Proximus, thinking of his own life, screamed as rocks began to fall. He shoved Finn away and bolted for the exit, sword still in hand. Finn raced after him, diving several times to avoid a falling rock. He tried once more for the sword, taking advantage of the chaos.

Proximus didn't struggle, dropping the sword as he knew Finn was slowing him down. He got a great distance ahead, and, believing he was safe, turned, laughing as Finn was still in the thick of the collapsing ceiling. Finn wildly hurtled through the water, using the magical sword to try and slice the largest rocks falling toward him.

"It'll bury both of my problems!" Proximus crowed, but he wasn't looking where he ought to, his back to ahead. Proximus went to make another mocking comment, but his jibes turned to screams as he was struck by several large rocks. Finn knew better than to help, tearing past the nightling.

For the briefest moment Finn felt a set of claw-like fingernails try to seize his tail, but then the terrible screaming was abruptly stopped. Finn dared look back, seeing a hand sticking out from the rubble, fingers still and limp. The sword in hand, Finn fled from the collapsing tunnel, throwing himself through the entrance. He rolled across the sand, until he slowed to a stop. Splayed on the sand, Finn looked up at the tunnels, where there was now rubble choking the entrance.

At first he thought he'd dropped the sword in the chaos, and his head fell into his hands. There was a glimmer in the corner of his vision. Finn slowly turned his face. The black sword shone in the faint light, the red stones aglow along the blade.


	47. Last stand

Melody slowly sat up, holding a hand to her wounded temple. Her vision was blurred, and there was a strange, uncomfortable ringing in her ears. Groaning, Melody blinked up at the shield overhead which suspiciously darkened and brightened at an inconsistent rate, and the shattered ceiling seemed closer. The yellow web Lysidus had produced to lock the ceiling in place flickered above, sagging under the weight of the roof and from the blast.

Dust and stones were slipping through the barrier, and there were suspicious sounds coming from the burned walls. While it was still holding the palace roof in place, underneath, the remaining columns and the walls were blackened and slowly cracking. There was black marks on the ground where the two streams of energy had collided, but miraculously, Melody and Zafrina weren't too badly hurt. Lysidus was nowhere to be seen, although there was a large pile of rubble where he once was.

Melody crawled over to Zafrina, who lay on her side, eyes closed. There was a dull ache all throughout her, and the water smelled like burning. "Zafrina, you alright?" she shook her cousin, and thankfully, she was still conscious. Zafrina opened her eyes, looking delirious, but she was reaching out for her. Melody gently helped Zafrina sit up, and Zafrina clung to her weakly. While Zafrina regained her senses, Melody looked around and guessed it would be a few minutes until the unsupported areas crumbled.

Zafrina looked at Melody in a daze, her vision clearing enough for her to notice that Lysidus was no where to be seen. "Where is he? Has he escaped?"

"No," Melody pulled her off the ground, cautiously approaching the pile of rock. She didn't hear anything to suggest there was someone in it, but deep down, Melody knew he was there. She could sense him, her skin crawling as it did when she was close to him. "He's under there... but how are we going to get the necklace off him? It was around his neck..."

"No... no, it wasn't." Melody slowly turned to look at Zafrina. Zafrina was frowning. "I got it off his neck for the briefest moment before he took it back... he was holding it in his hand during the blast." Melody remembered, just before she'd hit the wall, Lysidus being hit by the explosion. Something bright had gone flying out of his hand... "He dropped it. I saw it fall out of his hand..." They looked up at the same time, mouths open. Frantically, they began searching the room, looking for any sign of it amongst the debris.

"I can't find it!" Zafrina shouted, in panic. Melody looked around desperately, for any trace of yellow light, before seeing something glowing from the pile of rubble Lysidus was buried under.

"There! Help me!" Melody dove to the rubble, began pulling stones away. Zafrina came to help, fiercely shoving rocks aside. After about a minute of digging, Zafrina gasped and her hand plunged into a gap. She withdrew her hand, the stone clenched in her fist, the chain dangling between them. They looked at the jewel, and grinned at one another, before Melody realized a loop hole. "We don't know where Finn is." Zafrina's look of delight faded a little.

Melody considered whether Circe's magic could grant her one last favour, as she thought of a way to both hear Finn's voice again and to find out where he was. She placed a hand on the vibrating jewel. _I need to know where he is. I need to hear his voice._ There was nothing. The spell was too much and it was irreversible.

"He can't be far..."

Finn raced toward the palace, the sword in hand. He tore past merpeople who had dropped to the floor or were milling about in confusion and fear. When they saw him coming and the sword he carried they leapt aside to let him pass. A few cheered, but Finn couldn't hear them, too occupied with his task and his inner thoughts were too loud to notice. _Hurry. Hurry. Bay, Zafrina, Melody..._

Just as Melody was about to rise from the pile of rubble, a large, burned-looking hand burst out, seizing her by the wrist. She screamed in terror and so did Zafrina, who hastily grabbed Finn's knife and buried it into the arm. There was an animalistic yell smothered by rubble as it released her. Then the rocks were rapidly shifting, as Lysidus was hauling himself through the rubble.

"Time to go!" Zafrina cried, yanking Melody toward the entrance, but then Lysidus was free of the debris. Melody instantly knew they weren't going to get very far. She pulled free, shoving Zafrina away with all her power, as she dived aside to retrieve the trident. Lysidus snatched up the morphing weapon he had created, lunging at Zafrina who lurched back, trying to keep the stone away from him.

There was a screech of two weapons colliding as Melody jammed the trident prongs between Zafrina and Lysidus' weapon.

"Go, get the jewel to Finn!" Melody placed herself between Zafrina and Lysidus, the trident glowing to life as she shot a beam of light towards Lysidus. He went flying across the room, hitting the ruined throne. He started fumbling in the debris, searching for his weapon.

"No!" Zafrina refused to leave her too. It was unthinkable. "Not without you! You can't stay here alone, that's not happening!"

"Do you trust me?"

"More than anything!" Zafrina declared, and Melody remembered, those words she had said to Zafrina just before she and Bay had taken off.

"Then you know I'll be alright!" Melody turned to see Lysidus coming toward her at speed. "Get out of here! Don't look back, just get out of here!" Melody blasted the trident at Lysidus yet again, looking at Zafrina over her shoulder. Zafrina shook her head, tears gathering in her eyes, but she was slowly backing away, edging toward the entrance. Melody screamed at her so hard she thought her voice might tear. _"Go!"_

Zafrina turned and tore herself away. She started to swim as though it were for her life, the stone burning in her grasp, as the spell neared completion. Zafrina knew they were running perilously low on time; how long had the spell been going on for? The pool of random merfolk to fall under it was dwindling. It wouldn't be long until Zafrina, Melody and Finn joined Bay.

"Let me pass!" Lysidus screeched, violently swinging his weapon with the intent to kill.

"Never!"

The ceiling continued to sag, rocks were raining down as the force field started to break apart and grow weaker. Melody only knew one thing: she had to keep him there as long as possible. There had to be as much distance between him and Zafrina as Melody could give. But Lysidus was fast. Melody had to keep blasting the trident, but this was only damaging the palace more and more. The barrier was struggling to withstand the ceiling as more weight was added, as more columns and walls crumbled.

Realizing she could no longer risk using it without burying the both of them, Melody threw the trident far from his reach, to the foot of the wall. She plucked up her staff, and began beating Lysidus, striking at his arms, his ribs, his face. He grunted in pain and flowers of black began to bloom on his sallow skin. Melody believed she couldn't possibly be a match for him, his weapon of light burned the water around it, coming within inches of her. All the while she thought of those she loved, how Bay was dying and how Zafrina and Finn could soon be in the same boat. She hit him harder, faster, Lysidus buckled and his grasp on his weapon slipped repeatedly. He was growing weaker, the spell and her overwhelming him. Melody was overpowering him.

Zafrina looked around desperately. "Finn! _Finn!_ Where are you?" She buried her free hand into her hair, but at this moment, Zafrina was made aware of a prickling sensation. She slowly looked up. "You must be joking... you've got to be..." She gasped at a hot searing pain. Zafrina clung to her side and began to swim as fast as she could, while she still could. She was screaming for Finn at the top of her voice, but it seemed as though the more she resisted, the faster, harder the pain set in. She barely made it a few metres before it was too much.

Around the corner from the throne room, Zafrina hit the ground and the stone flew from her hand, glowing a few metres away. She began dragging herself, crawling across the sand to reach it, but she was too weak to move. She slumped, hand extended toward the jewel, her other hand clutching her side. So she concentrated all her energy on shouting for Finn, although it hurt to do so. Her cries grew weak, and Zafrina slumped in the sand.

Lysidus fell to the floor, staring up at her as he was beaten., shocked by her strength, that he had underestimated her. Melody rose the staff over her head, blinded with adrenaline and rage, but then she gasped. The staff fell from her hand. _No. Please no._ Lysidus took a moment to understand. A smile of madness spread across his face as he pulled himself off the ground, retrieving his weapon.

Melody struggled over to the trident, and just as she got there she fell to the floor, slipping down to the foot of the wall, gasping, unable to get up. She looked at her forearm, to see yellow lights flashing under her skin. The spell had got her. In the heat of the moment, Lysidus forgot how easy it would be to escape and catch up to Zafrina; he wanted to kill Melody once and for all, before the spell could.

Finn paused and turned, faintly hearing his name weakly called.

"At last," Lysidus hissed, making his way toward her. "If I couldn't kill Triton, his granddaughter will suffice..."

Melody fumbled for the trident and aimed it at Lysidus, summoning its energy with all her will. Golden light streamed and struck him, but he resisted. Everywhere his skin broke from the burn of the trident was filled by light as he tried to self heal faster than the damage. Lysidus' weapon morphed into a shield, as he forced himself closer, pushing against the blast. She released cries of effort and pain as she begged the trident to do it's worst, but he was coming closer by the second, slowly, but gradually. She closed her eyes, not wanting to see his face come any nearer, turning her face away as the energy and light from the trident was too much even for her. Images of her life flashed behind her eyes.

She remembered Finn's loving whispers, the feel of his hands cradling her face. Zafrina's bright smile and the golden bangles she adorned her wrists with. Bay's carefree laughter and his incredible sketch book. Her supportive father, her beautiful, loving mother, and her baby brother Florian, his eyes lighting up with delight when they saw her.

Zafrina saw black spots darken her vision. She lay there, seeing the blur of the stone up ahead, her fingers twitching toward it. There was someone coming down the corridor, toward her at speed, calling her name. Was it Lysidus? Melody? A loved one here to take her to the land of the dead? No...

 _"Zafrina!"_ Finn charged down the corridor, he had the sword clutched in hand. Zafrina began to weep with relief, nodding her head weakly toward the cursed yellow soul flickering a few metres away. Finn sped up, eyes on the stone.

Lysidus' hand seized the trident at last and the glow, like Melody's world, shrivelled and died as she believed it was the end. He tore the weapon from her hand and tossed it to the side, to the other side of the room. Melody looked up at him, in agony, watching as his self-healing light rapidly filled the crevices the trident had made in his skin, but at this point, he could only heal so much. His skin was red and crinkled with burn scars, so the three across his chest were now invisible against the new red sea that covered his skin. The frilly gills on his neck were shredded like paper, he only had a few clumps of white hair left, clinging to his scalp.

Melody was barely able to see his facial expression through blurred eyesight, but she could guess what it looked like. Like he had with Zafrina minutes before, he seized her by the neck and raised her high above him. She didn't struggle, hanging limply from his hand, for a moment believing, accepting her end. Then she heard, the sweetest sound, of Zafrina and Finn's voices down the corridor.

"How does it feel, to fail so miserably?" He gloated, blissfully unaware.

"I wouldn't know." Melody looked him in the eyes. "How _does_ it feel?" Lysidus frowned, confused as to why she was smiling.

Finn raised the sword high above his head as he reached the stone. And then, with all his will and power, he brought it down.


	48. No more magic

There was a violent shattering sound. Green light emerged from the stone and travelled up the blade, and that was all Finn and Zafrina saw before the explosion. The pulse of energy sent Finn flying back, and Zafrina covered her head to shield herself, her hair flying from the waves. Shards of the stone scattered across the seabed, and when Finn struggled to sit up, the handle of the sword was all he held, the blade in pieces on the sand. A white, flickering light emerged from the pieces, splitting into fragments, dissolving into the water around them. The yellow turned green, and then the colour started draining away completely.

Lysidus released a violent shriek and Melody slipped through his hand and into a heap on the ground. She began crawling backwards on her hands and tail, desperate to get away from him. Lysidus clutched his scarred chest, gasping for air, as yellow light poured from where his heart was, and then, there was a jarring silence. He looked up at Melody, and she jolted at the sight of white glowing orbs where his eyes had been. When he opened his mouth, there was no more sound, only fragments of white, blinding light.

Lysidus began lurching through the water, struggling toward her. Melody hastily crawled back further still, terrified as his claw-like hand came at her, but moments before touching her, he turned transparent, like a ghost, phasing through her and unable to grasp her. He lifted his transparent hand to his face, mouth moving but no sound heard. His head fell back, and he grew ever more transparent, like mist. Just like that, he faded like smoke in the wind.

Melody didn't have time to handle her shock. The moment Lysidus vanished, the weapon he had created did too, disappearing before it hit the floor. She closed her eyes, arms wrapped around herself, releasing a sigh of relief.

 _Crack._

Her eyes snapped open. She looked up to see the yellow web disintegrate into nothingness, and it hit her - there was nothing to stop the ceiling now. Melody sprang out of the way as rock and pieces of gold came crashing toward her, leaping for the entrance - but it was blocked by rubble before she could make it. Covering her head, Melody spun round, caught sight of the trident and dived for it, knowing that it was her only chance.

Zafrina didn't feel pain anymore. Just like that, it was gone. In fact... she couldn't even remember what it felt like. Finn was groaning and trying to rise. "What just happened?" He mumbled, delirious. They briefly locked eyes, before looking down at where the jewel had been. In its place lay pieces of what looked like colourless glass, the chain itself no more. Cautiously, Finn picked up a piece in his hand, but it was as still and inanimate as any stone. There was no more faint hum of energy, nor a whispering voice.

"You did it." Zafrina said, in disbelief. Across the ocean, people were slowly rising off the ground, confused and delirious, but no longer in pain. Narcissus and Ravenna embraced, cradling Wanda between them, as they felt their strength return. On the battlefield, those who had fallen were sitting up, Ariel's sisters fiercely embracing one another. The remaining nightlings breathed sighs of relief and huddled together. In Wundagore, Rhapsody and Lokia were helping up any merperson that was struggling off the floor. Then Rhapsody released a shriek. Lokia whirled round in surprise, to find her lover frantically rummaging in her bag.

"Lokia!" Rhapsody exclaimed, shoving a mirror at her. "Your hair!" Lokia's hair was no longer white, but as black as coal, as it had been before the stone had frozen their aging process. Lokia cried out in joy, her fingers roaming Rhapsody's restored ginger locks, as the fallen merfolk started recovering and getting up. Finally, they were mortal again. They were free of Lysidus.

Zafrina pulled Finn off the floor, and they backed away from the smoking remains of the stone and the sword. "Bay," she suddenly said, hurtling down the corridor to where she had left him. Unbeknownst to her, Finn heard the sound of stones cracking and the screech of metal, heavy sounds of collapse. Then he noticed that Melody was no where in sight. His heart dropped and he tore toward the throne room.

Zafrina raced through the palace, dreading what she would find. What if the spell had simply been too much for him? Corva claimed that some of the first affected could die before the spell was complete... a small part of her wondered whether this was simply her trying to scare Bay. But what if...

She came to a halt, hardly daring to breathe, fearful that this was a cruel trick of her imagination. There he was, his back to her, not on the ground, but floating. He seemed to be examining his hands and body for any damage, any remaining yellow lights. His face lifted and he turned to face her, grey eyes wide with disbelief. Slowly, silently, she closed the distance between them, before coming to a stop a foot from him. She raised a hand to touch his face.

She slipped her fingers through the softness of his short blonde hair, and she realized it was very, wonderfully real. Bay gave her that look, as though she were the most beautiful thing in all creation, cradling her face in both hands, realizing too that this was not a dream before he smiled at her. Zafrina's mouth broke into a smile too as she threw her arms around Bay and stole his lips, mumbling the three letter phrase between kisses.

Oblivious, they had no idea what was going on in the throne room. Finn came to a screeching halt, all his relief and hope gone in an instant. The entrance was choked by rubble. "Melody! Melody!" Finn began coughing as a cloud of dust rolled into his lungs. Spluttering, he looked at the broken rock and pieces of metal before him.

"No, please, no! What have I done?" Finn couldn't fit through the blocked entrance, so he swam up over the arch, where the roof once was. He looked down at the sea of rubble and dust, beginning to hyperventilate. How could she had survived this? He didn't hear any sounds, nothing. Calling her name over and over, he began trying to shift the debris, but it came to him that moving any of it could injure her more. He was as trapped as she was.

 _What if she's...?_

 _Crack._ He slowly looked up, tears in his eyes, gasping. He heard rocks moving, pieces and shards rolling down slabs of stone. There was a growing mound, as some sort of mass moved up through the sea of debris, yellow light flickering through the gaps. Finn cautiously moved back, skin prickling with fear; was it Lysidus, somehow still alive? Then it dawned upon him. Not yellow - gold, the trident's gold.

Finn leapt up and tore across the room, beginning to pull and shove at the debris. The light grew closer and brighter, and then he saw her face. Melody was clinging to the trident with both hands, using it to project a protective barrier around herself.

"Help me." He heard her say through the energy field.

Finn began hauling slabs of stone aside, fiercely shoving rocks away, as Melody started shaking with the effort of moving through the sea of rubble. Finn ripped the another piece of rock away, before Melody reached up with a hand, the shield receding slightly so her hand could pass through and reach for him. Finn took hold of her hand, her rings biting into him from how tightly he held her, but he didn't care at all. He pulled her through the perilous gap, and the shield faded from existence as Melody's concentration swayed at last and she let go of the weapon. Rocks tumbled down into the gap where she had been, and the trident fell to the floor.

Melody was exhausted, Finn practically holding her up, but her arms were tightly wrapped around his back, her cheek pressed over his heart as she gasped for air. He embraced her fiercely, one arm holding her body to him, his other hand cradling her head to his chest as he kissed her crown over and over, weeping softly as he did. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for," Melody said, fiercely. "You had to do it, we couldn't wait."

"I love you. I love you so much."

"I love you too, angel." Melody murmured into his skin, pressing a lasting kiss to his chest. She pulled back, but only enough so she could cradle his face in her hands, wanting to see his eyes. Finn was a mess, crying into her palms, which he pressed repeated kisses to. She had heard him cry countless times, but this... was something else. It brought tears to her eyes too. He thought he had lost her, and worst of all, he would have been convinced that it was his fault. "Look. I'm still here. I'm alright. You destroyed it - doing that saved me from Lysidus. He almost had me."

"But the debris could have buried you..."

"I had the trident. You saved me from him." Melody said it over and over.

"What happened to him?"

"I'll explain later, but he's definitely gone." Melody recalled the disturbing scene briefly, but couldn't care less now. She pulled his face towards hers so she could rest her forehead against his, still terrified of waking from this dream, that she had survived and they had won, at last. Finn closed his eyes, nuzzling his forehead against hers before he found her lips.

A weight was lifted, as they realized it was finally over, and they got over the shock. Finn finally stopped shaking, looking around at the ruins. After a few moments, a smirk appeared.

"You've kinda destroyed your grandfather's palace."

"Sebastian's going to kill me, isn't he?" They both laughed as the tension melted away at last. Taking him by the hand, Melody led Finn out of the ruined throne room, and he did not let go of her hand for the rest of the night. Down the corridor they paused to observe the pieces of colourless jewel scattered across the ground, alongside the shards of the sword. Melody looked down at the two things that had caused them so much trouble.

"I suppose Circe didn't even want the sword to remain. She wanted both destroyed." Finn explained.

"She can now rest in peace." Melody said. "Grandfather too." She stooped and buried the harmless pieces in the sand. No sooner had she done this had Zafrina and Bay appeared at the end of it, and started hurtling toward them. Nothing on earth could have kept the two pairs apart as they reached one another. They came together in a single embrace.

 _ **One to go!**_


	49. Under the stars

The next morning, Florian was crawling across the sand, occasionally stopping to sit up and examine a shell. Ariel perched on the bottom step of the palace, gazing at her son while Marco lay at her ankle. He looked up at her and nudged her foot. "Sorry Marco. I'm not in the mood to play." The spaniel whined before getting up and flying across the sand, chasing Scuttle who had just attempted to land. Immediately he changed his mind and turned, squawking as Marco leapt for him.

Ariel tried to muster a smile but didn't have it in her. She released another sigh, twirling the green ribbon Melody used to wear. She missed her daughter terribly. It had almost been a month since they'd seen one another, and she was sick with worry. She had had the most awful feeling last night, when the palace shook and a huge wave had crashed into the palace. The staff were debating what the yellow light in the distance had been, although the general consensus was lightning, which Ariel found hard to believe. She had a feeling it had something to do with the recent wall of silence between her and her merpeople relatives.

There was a high pitched sqeaul of excitement from Florian. Ariel's face lifted, spotting him eagerly crawling toward the edge of the water. She rose to her feet and scooped him up before he could crawl directly into the waves. "What is it, Florian?" His baby blue eyes were fixed on something in the shallows, he was babbling as babies his age did. Ariel looked up, expecting a dolphin, but what she saw filled her with so much more joy.

She waded into the shallows, dress and all, as Melody rose out of the water to embrace her mother and brother. She could hear her father's footsteps rapidly descending the palace steps as he spotted her, although her mother was her focus. Ariel pulled back as Melody took Florian and hugged him to her chest. While Florian buried himself into his sister's neck, Ariel took hold of her daughter's face, furiously sweeping away her tears with her thumbs, eyes scanning the light bruising and scratches on her face and arms.

"I had quite a journey, as you can see." Ariel made a half laugh, half sob, before embracing both Melody and Florian.

* * *

A few hours later, Melody gazed down at the grand stone that had been wreathed in seaweed and seaflowers, her grandfather's name carved proudly into it. She had been there for some time, arms wrapped around herself, lost in memories of him and her long, long conversation with her parents about where she had been. Her black hair stirred ever so slightly in the current.

Zafrina emerged from behind a column, her heart constricting little at the sight of the grave, although it was softer than she expected. She went up to her cousin's side, wrapping an arm around her shoulder.

"It's a beautiful place to rest." Melody commented. Zafrina nodded before Melody turned to hug her, eyes tight shut. Zafrina sighed deeply, eyes drifting to the grave, before gently steering Melody away and beginning to take her back towards the restored palace. They took their time, arm in arm, things feeling just like they used to be.

"So, auntie Ariel didn't kill you?" Zafrina prompted, and Melody chuckled.

"Not quite. But we agreed that as long as I'm honest with her in future, she won't be mad. Not for long, anyway." Melody grinned. "Maybe we should have told the truth. We'll do that next time. I've lied to her too much over the past year. How does Bay feel about his hair? I don't feel right asking him."

"He told me that he's never cut it before... he feels quite liberated." Zafrina lowered her voice. "I actually think Bay looks h - I mean, good with shorter hair. It shows off his eyes."

"It suits him." Melody agreed. "But I still feel..."

"It wasn't your fault what happened. Those two caught us off guard, Lysidus was meddling with our brains."

"I forgot to ask. When you got hit by the spell, do you remember how it felt?" Melody couldn't for the life of her. It was as though, in those final moments, her ability to feel had been paralysed, although her hearing and eyesight still functioned.

"No. It's all a blur." Zafrina shook her head. "Good. I'm glad nobody remembers the pain. Hopefully nobody will remember Lysidus, either. He doesn't deserve to be remembered. He'll get lost in history, but we'll tell the nightlings' story. How they were innocent, how much the merpeople and granddaddy regretted it once they'd realized their mistake."

"Speaking of them, did you send the letter?"

"It should reach Rhapsody and Lokia in a few days. I made sure to say that the other nightlings are fine and went their own ways, but Corva and Proximus won't be bothering them. I also said that they're welcome here." The other nightlings had left quietly, relieved and intending to resume normal lives, although fifteen year old Xanth had decided to stick around, with nobody else. Alana and Adonis had had the kindness to take him in until he found his fins. Zafrina's sister Zelda was showing him around Atlantica.

"I wish we could've met Rhapsody and Lokia." Melody commented.

"I have a feeling we'll see them again." Zafrina said with a smile. The two reentered the throne room, which had been repaired by the trident. They weaved through the crowd, nodding and smiling at the merfolk, friends, relatives and sea animals they passed. Melody noted how her aunts weren't in sight, remembering that they had gone to visit Ariel before Attina, Arista, Andrina and Adella departed for their kingdoms.

The two mermaids had no intention of continuing to celebrate as much as they wanted to. They felt exhaustion weighing down their bones, hoping that the boys had had enough too. Luckily it seemed that way - they eventually found Bay half-asleep against the wall. Zafrina stirred him awake, and his tired smile spread to his silver eyes. He took her hand and let her pull him off the floor.

Melody looked around for Finn, expecting to see him talking with the other Atlanteans. It seemed as though he and Bay had been accepted at last - news had spread of their heroics, from Bay saving Zafrina from Corva to Finn destroying the stone. Even Sebastian seemed warmer towards them, at last, although this didn't stop Finn from playfully referring to him as 'Seb', to the crab's annoyance.

However, her concerns came back when she noticed him slipping away from the celebrations and heading for the surface. She frowned, wondering what was up with him. "That's unlike him... I'd better see how he is."

"I'm sure he's fine... he's just being Finn. If it's important, tell us tomorrow. Afternoon though, I'm aiming for at least ten hours of sleep. I'm dead on my fins." Bay said sleepily, beginning to slide down the wall once more.

"Alright, to bed with you, my love." Zafrina rolled her eyes and pushed him gently ahead, but not before giving Melody a quick hug. "See you tomorrow, Mel." Melody bid them good night and headed after Finn.

Zafrina and Bay entered their cave, ready to sink into bed. They dropped their bags in the centre of the floor, and as Zafrina shed her bangles, they paused for a moment to look at each other. Zafrina gave him a tired smile, eyelids growing heavy. "What a month." Sleepless weeks of swimming, constantly looking over their shoulders, arguments, fear - it was over now. No one else was out to get them. Melody and Finn had never given up hope on them, even when they'd abandoned them in that darkest hour.

"What a month." He repeated, with a sleepy chuckle. They were no longer reflective, depressed or haunted by the past. The past had happened and now there was only the future. Zafrina barely remembered the features of Otan's face, or Lysidus', for that matter. Bay intended to embrace his new hair, and his scar was gone.

They went over to their bed which hadn't been slept in for some time, the dishevelled covers exactly as they left them. Bay suddenly surprised her with an unexpected hug, nose buried into her hair. Zafrina wasn't complaining, although she did give him a questioning look.

"Thank you, Rina. You saved my life." Bay held her face in his hands, eyes only for her. Zafrina looped her arms around his neck and gave him the softest of smiles, golden eyes soft in the dark.

"And you saved mine." Zafrina closed her eyes as she reached up to give him a tender kiss, no more words needing to be said. Tiredness soon claimed the both of them, and the kiss ended with Zafrina snuggled against his chest, warm in his arms. Pressing his lips to her forehead as she so frequently did with him, Bay gently picked her up and carried her to bed.

Melody found Finn at last, sitting on a rock above the waves. She surfaced, sweeping her wet hair out of her face, watching him from a distance. His dark brown hair was drying into waves as a warm breeze stirred the ocean, the moonlight dancing along his olive skin. Cautious, she worried if he had had another nightmare, or if he was haunted by the past twenty four hours.

For a moment Melody wished that the stone still existed. Like the first night when she'd gotten a glimpse of it's capabilities, she could have peered into his mind to see his feelings, his thoughts. He was often hard to read and so secretive by nature. Melody was desperate to know what he was thinking, how she could help him. What was he thinking about now? Was he thinking about the events of last night?

She recalled that moment. His hand grasping hers, pulling her to safety and then to him, the way he had trembled violently as he hugged her to his chest, how his cries of relief had erupted from his heart. The organ had fought against his ribs and her, as though it were a caged bird trying to free itself. Finn loved her so much and she loved him in return, more than her own life. That moment, in the ruins of the palace, she had realized just how much he loved her.

She pulled herself up to sit beside him, and Finn turned to look at her, his sea green eyes glowing in the moonlight. Melody took his hand within hers and rested against his side.

"It's beautiful." Finn murmured, and Melody too glanced up at the starry canvas. "Growing up, I rarely visited the surface. It's only in the past year I've really known what the night sky looks like." It was indeed beautiful. The sky was a deep, velvety black, the swathe of stars glittering like tiny flecks of ice.

"I never asked you. How are your nightmares?"

"I don't think they'll be bothering me any time soon." Finn hadn't seen or even thought about Nia or Ontari or anybody from Belixia ever since he'd visited. "That reminds me. There's something I have to tell you..."

"What is it?"

"When we split briefly, the stone took me back to Belixia. I... visited the room where I last saw my mother." Melody blinked, her fingers lacing with his, wondering whether that was a good thing or not. She gave his hand a gentle squeeze.

"And? Are you alright?"

"I'm going to be fine. We all will." Finn said, with a smile. Melody listened to his voice, and heard honesty. She believed him, and also agreed with him.

"It's finally over." Melody sighed, catharsis washing over her like a wave upon the shore. They had succeeded. Lysidus, the cursed Abraxia stone, and the magical sword were no more. No more threats, no more ghosts, and the sea was finally at peace. Her grandfather would rest well, knowing that they had fulfilled his dying wish. They had never been closer to Zafrina and Bay, and Florian would soon begin to walk.

Finn raised her hand to his mouth for a kiss, pressing his lips to her knuckles. Melody relaxed against his warm side, thinking about their plans for tomorrow, how much they all grown. They remained there, holding each other in the middle of the sea, as they tilted their heads back to look at the stars.

 ** _Hey everyone, thank you so much for staying with me until the end, I love and appreciate all of you and your lovely reviews. I'm sorry this story has taken forever, including this final chapter itself, because this has been one of the hardest stories for me to tackle what with the various subplots, required emotional depth and the battle against author's block during the journey through Wundagore._**

 ** _I think this is where our story ends, for I can't think of anything good enough for a sequel. Although you never know, and I'll always be combing my mind for ideas._** ** _I love you all and please take a moment to let me know what you thought. I've also made a few slight edits to the last few chapters in case you feel like reading those - a few improvements and extra content._**

 ** _Thank you for reading and supporting me and I hope you enjoyed the story!_**

 ** _\- Love, Sorrel_**


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